METEOROLO&ICAL  OBSERVATIONS 


MADE  IN 

MONTGOMERY  COUNTY, 


SOUTHERN  OHIO, 

AND  A 


CONDENSED  TREATISE 


ON 


METEOROLOGY  IN  GENERAL. 


By  L.  GEONEWEG, 

PRACTICAL  AND  ANALYTICAL  CHEMIST,  MEMBER  OP  THE  AMERICAN  ASSOCIATION  FOR  THE 
ADVANCEMENT  OF  SCIENCE,  AND  METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVER  FOR 
THE  SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION. 


GERMANTOWN; 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  AUTHOK. 
1  8  5  6. 


I 


/ 


« 


'V 


/ 


45.27 

59.94 

49.29 

86 

59 

81 

94.. 

209.52 

8.946 

12 

29.15 

39.57 

31.85 

87 

66 

83 

50 

9.00 

7.298 

2 

43.92 

61.17 

49.92 

80 

49 

70 

GO 

0.00 

10.720 

0 

63.80 

78.57 

66.80 

90 

61 

88 

00 

117.60 

6.570 

6 

44.22 

60.42 

48.57 

87 

58 

84 

J)EST  DAY. 


Date, 


26th  July. 
30th  January. 


Wannest  day 
Coldest  day  • 

Eange . 


r  A  B  B  K  1. 


METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS, 


MADE  AT  GERMANTOWN,  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  OHIO. 

I 

F  Cf  K,  THE  nVC  B  X  E  O  E,  O  L  O  C3- 1  C  -A.  E  -JT  ij  ^  E  18SO-’61,  B  -ST  E.  C3-  E  O  IST  B  W  E  Q  . 


Barometer. 

Corrected  and  reduced  to  the  Freezing 
Point,  or  32  deg.  Fahrenheit, 

Open  Air  Thermometer,  Fahrenheit. 

Clear- 
ness  of 
the 

Quant 

Me 

Pars 

ty  of  Rain  and 
Ited  Snow. 

1  Cubic  Inch. 

Perpendicular  depth 
of  Rain  and  Melted 

Rela 

Hu- 

Force  of  Vapor. 

Monthly  Means. 

1 

Number  of  Days,  with 

r- 

Mean  Temporataro. 

Relative  Hu. 
midity. 

Per  cent. 

Wind,  Directions,  Monthly  mean 

midi- 

Monthly 

Maximum. 

Minimum 

Varia¬ 

tions. 

Monthly 

Means. 

— 

Minimum. 

TlSis" 

Month- 

Rain. 

Melted 

Paris 

English 

ty- 

M’th- 
lym'8 
Pr  ct. 

Paris 

Lines. 

English 

1 

I 

Heat 

Light¬ 

nings. 

Dew. 

Froi’n 

Dow. 

Dry 

Mist. 

Fog  & 
Mist. 

Rdn. 

Snow. 

0  A.  M, 

3  P.  M. 

10  r. M. 

ii 

K 

1 10  P.  M. 

1850. 
Docembpr, 

1851. 

January,  . 

2!)..346 

29.675 

28.520 

1.155 

30.65 

62.15 

2.97 

59.18 

6.8 

E:  W  =  l: 

9.17. 

N:S=l: 

0.61 

233.40 

131.56 

2.534 

2.701 

81 

1.63 

0.1421 

0 

0 

0 

5 

1 

10 

6 

27.27 

36.05 

28.62 

86 

70 

86 

29.293 

29.977 

28.716 

1.261 

31.55 

58.55 

-7.37 

65.92 

5.5 

E:  W=1  : 

59.00. 

N:  S=l: 

1.13 

94.16 

1.00 

0.658 

0.691 

75 

1.60 

0.1421 

0 

0 

0 

11 

7 

6 

1 

26.37 

38.97 

29.75 

85 

61 

79 

February,  . 

2.9.337 

29.835 

28.787 

1.048 

38.50 

63.50 

8.15 

55.35 

7.1 

E:  1Y=1: 

7.17. 

N:  S=l: 

1.89 

751. 

38 

76.96 

5,754 

6.134 

80 

2.22 

0.1954 

0 

0 

0 

6 

6 

10 

5 

33.80 

43.70 

37.17 

89 

68 

83 

Mareli,  .  . 

29.26G 

29.568 

28.955 

0.631 

43.25 

73.17 

15!  80 

57.37 

4.8 

E:  W=l: 

8.17. 

N:  S=l: 

1.48 

341.60 

9.00 

2.434 

2.595 

69 

2.22 

0.1954 

3 

1 

4 

6 

3 

9 

2 

35.82 

52.47 

41.45 

79 

54 

73 

April,  .  .  . 

20.151 

29.684 

28.565 

1.119 

48.87 

73.40 

26.82 

46.58 

5.5 

E:  W=l: 

4.00. 

N:  S=l: 

1.00 

336.86 

0.00 

2..336 

2.490 

63 

2.34 

0.2043 

1 

1 

4 

6 

3 

11 

0 

41.22 

57.87 

47..30 

81 

44 

64 

May,  .  .  . 

29.222 

29.542 

28.875 

0.667 

63.05 

89.82 

20.75 

69.07 

5.2 

E:  W=l: 

2.75. 

N:  S=l: 

5.89 

364.04 

0.00 

2.528 

2.694 

68 

4.55 

0.4085 

9 

5 

13 

4 

5 

12 

0 

54.72 

73.17 

61.02 

80 

49 

74 

June,  .  .  . 

29.168 

29.470 

28.724 

0.746 

67.55 

88.70 

46.17 

42.53 

6.0 

E:  W=l: 

3.29. 

N:  S=l: 

8.50 

380. 

20 

0.00 

2.640 

2.814 

79 

6.04 

0.5329 

9 

0 

9 

0 

2 

10 

0 

61.70 

75.65 

65.30 

89 

63 

84 

July,  .  .  . 

29.177 

29.373 

29.000 

0.373 

71.82 

9L40 

47.07 

44.33 

4.6 

E:  W=l: 

3.43r 

N:  S=l: 

2.87 

790.40 

0.00 

5.502 

5.865 

79 

6.89 

0,6128 

14 

5 

22 

0 

4 

12 

0 

66.20 

80.82 

68.22 

91 

57 

90 

August,  .  . 

29.231 

29.462 

28.964 

0.498 

69.80 

86.00 

43.92 

42.08 

3.7 

E:  W=l: 

2.39. 

N:  S=l: 

2.10 

374.00 

0.00 

2.598 

2.769 

81 

6.57 

0.5862 

5 

4 

26 

0 

12 

8 

0 

63.50 

79.25 

66.87 

91 

62 

91 

September, 

29.319 

29.648 

29.026 

0.622 

65.30 

94.32 

30.87 

63.45 

3.3 

E:  W=l: 

1.38. 

N;  S=l: 

1.95 

159.20 

0.00 

1.104 

1.177 

74 

5.19 

0.4618 

0 

1 

18 

1 

17 

3 

0 

57.42 

77.90 

61.02 

89 

47 

85 

October,  .  . 

29.195 

29.577 

28.733 

0.844 

50.22 

78.35 

17.37 

60.98 

4.7 

E:  W=1  : 

2.69. 

N:  S=l; 

2.96 

327.20 

8.00 

2.326 

2.480 

75 

3.06 

0.2753 

0 

0 

9 

6 

19 

7 

1 

41.90 

60.57 

48.20 

87 

56 

83 

November, 

29.213 

29.684 

28.680 

1.004 

37.62 

86.90 

17.37 

51.53 

7.7 

E;  W=l: 

1.64. 

N:  S=l: 

1.00 

242.60 

209.60 

3.140 

3.347 

80 

2.13 

0.1865 

2 

0 

0 

2 

10 

8 

5 

33.35 

42.80 

36.50 

85 

71 

84 

Sums,  .  .  . 

4395.04 

436.12 

33.534 

35.747 

43 

17 

105 

47 

89 

106 

20 

Means  of  the 

Year,  .  . 

Seasons. 

29.243 

51.498 

5.4 

E:  W=l: 

8.77. 

N:  S=l: 

2.61 

75 

3.705 

0.3286 

45.27 

69.94 

49.29 

86 

59 

81 

'Winter,  .  . 

29.328 

29.977 

28.520 

1.457 

33.57 

63.50 

-7.37 

70.87 

6.5 

1  E:W=1: 

25.113. 

N:  S=1 ; 

1.21 

1078.94 

209.52 

8.946 

9.526 

79 

1.82 

0.1599 

0 

0 

0 

22 

14 

26 

12 

29.15 

39.57 

31.85 

87 

66 

83 

Spring,  .  . 

29.213 

29.684 

28.565 

1.119 

51.80 

89.82 

15.80 

74.02 

5.2 

1  E:  W  =  l: 

4.97  . 

n!  s=i! 

2.79 

1042.50 

9.00 

7.298 

7.779 

67 

3.04 

0.2664 

13 

7 

21 

16 

11 

32 

2 

4.3.92 

61.17 

49.92 

80 

49 

70 

Summer,  . 

29.195 

29.470 

28.724 

0.746  ' 

69.80 

91.40 

43.92 

47.48 

4.8 

1  E:  W=l: 

3.04  . 

N:  S=l: 

4.49 

1544.60 

0.00 

10.720 

11.448 

80 

6.51 

0.5773 

,  28 

9 

57 

0 

18 

30 

0 

6,3.80 

78.57 

66.80 

90 

61 

88 

Autumn,  . 

29.240 

29.684 

28,680 

1.004 

51.12 

94.32 

17.37 

76.95 

5.2 

E:  W  =  l: 

1.903. 

N:  S=l: 

1.97 

729.00 

117.60 

6.570 

7.004 

76 

3.46 

0.3108 

2 

1 

27 

9 

46 

18 

6 

44.22 

60.42 

48.57 

87 

58 

84 

YEARLY  EXTREMES. 

MEAN  TEMPERATURE  OF  THE  WARMEST  AND  COLDEST  DAY. 

-  - 

Maximum. 

Date. 

Minimum. 

1  Date. 

Range. 

Fahrenheit. 

Reaumur. 

Date. 

•■  •■28.520.^  ■■ 

■  •  -22d  December,  1850^  ■  [ 

■1.457 

101.69 

45.2 

. 31  05® . 

^’300 

WamiGst  day . 

.  3  g/o . 

Thermometer — Reaumur . 

■■■■27.7°  ■■•■ 

- 17.5°  •  •  •  ■ 

Coldest  day . 

Range . 

365.2 

9.006 

23.22 

33.27 

26.30 

88 

70 

81 

9.8 

9.756 

1 

43.92 

58.25 

47.97 

83 

56 

76 

0.0 

4.982 

62.00 

80.00 

66.12 

90 

54 

84 

14.6 

8.650 

46.17 

60.42 

48.80 

92 

63 

89 

5T  DAY. 


Date. 


23d  July. 

19tli  January. 


Wannest  day 
Coldest  day  • 


Eange 


T  B  L  E  II 


METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS, 


MADE  AT  GERMANTOWN,  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  OHIO. 

F  O  H  THE  1,^:  E  T  E  O  E.  O  L  O  C3-  I  C  A  E  -E"  E  A  E  1861-’SS,  :b  ^  E.  C3-  E  O  KT  E  W  E  O- . 


Corrected  and  reduced  to  tbe  Freezing 
Point,  or  32  deg.  Fahrenheit, 
English  Inches. 

Open  Air  Thermometer,  Fahrenheit. 

ness  of 
the 
Sky. 

Wind,  Directions,  Monthly  means. 

Quantity  of  Rain  and 
Melted  Snow. 

Paris  Cubic  Inch. 

Ferpendioular  depth 
of  Rain  and  Melted 
Snow. 

Hu¬ 

midi¬ 

Force  oT  Tapor. 

Monthly  Means. 

f 

Number  of  Days,  with 

Mean  Temperature. 

RoIailVcHa  • 
midity. 

Per  cent. 

Monthly 

Mean. 

Maiimum. 

Minimiun 

Varia* 

Monthly 

Means. 

Maaimmn. 

Minimum. 

Tsir 

Month¬ 

ly 

Means. 

Rain. 

Melted 

Paris 

Inches. 

English 

Inches. 

ty. 

M’th-  . 
lym’8 
Pr  ct. 

Paris 

Lines. 

English 

Inches. 

I 

Heat 

nings. 

Dew. 

Froz’n 

Dew. 

Dry 

Mist. 

Fog  & 
Mist. 

Rain. 

Snow. 

6  A.  M. 

2  P.  M. 

10  P.  M. 

S 

j.lOP.  M., 

1851. 

December, 

29.319 

29.737 

28.733 

1.004 

26.15 

61.25 

-22.90 

84.15 

7.2 

E:  W=l: 

;  2.11. 

N;  S=l:  2.81 

355.4 

81.2 

3.032 

3.232 

81 

1.49 

0.1332 

1 

0 

0 

5 

0 

5 

7 

3 

22.10 

31.77 

,24.57 

93  74 

83 

1852. 

January,  . 

29.222 

29.817 

28.547 

1.270 

23.00 

57.20 

-31.45 

88.65 

7.1 

E:  W=1 

1.69. 

N;  S=l:  2.00 

103.4 

243.6 

2.410 

2.569 

81 

1.27 

0.1155 

0 

0 

0 

2 

0 

10 

5 

10 

18.50 

29.07 

21.42 

91  '72 

85 

February,  . 

29.168 

29.719 

28.627 

1.092 

33.57 

.54.95 

5.22 

49.73 

6.7 

E:  W=1 

2.67. 

N:  S=l:  1.85 

473.0 

40.4 

3.564 

3.799 

72 

1.56 

0.1421 

0 

0 

0 

2 

0 

7 

6 

4 

29.07 

38.97 

32.90 

79  1  63 

75 

March,  .  . 

29.142 

29.746 

■'28.280 

1.466 

42.57 

77.90 

6.35 

71.55 

7.0 

E:  W=1 

1.52. 

N:  S=l:  1.31 

356.6 

9.0 

2.478 

2.641 

71 

2.31 

0.2043 

3 

0 

0 

4 

6 

5 

12 

4 

38.30 

49.32 

40.55 

81  60 

69 

April,  .  .  . 
May,  .  .  . 

28.982 

29.391 

28.414 

0.977 

46.62 

83.97 

21.42 

62.55 

6.7 

E:  W=1 

2.50. 

N:  S=l:  1.70 

636.6 

0.8 

4.414 

4.705 

73 

2.62 

0.2309 

6 

0 

2 

6 

4 

9 

15 

1 

40.10 

54.95 

44.82 

82 ' 56 

80 

29.204 

29.559 

28.867 

0.692 

60.80 

82.40 

28.17 

54.23 

6.0 

E:  W=1 

2.11. 

N:  S=l:  2.35 

412.6 

0.0 

2.864 

3.053 

72 

4.40 

0.3908 

7 

4 

11 

3 

2 

10 

15 

0 

53.37 

70.47 

58.55 

86  !  52 

79 

June,  .  .  . 

29.195 

29.533 

28.813 

0.720 

65.52 

88.25 

37.17 

51.08 

5.0 

E:  W=1 

2.56. 

N:  S=l:  2.00 

31.5.4 

0.0 

2.186 

2.3.30 

79 

5.58 

0.4974 

B 

6 

20 

0 

0 

10 

12 

0 

59.00 

75.87 

62.60 

91  !58 

87 

July,  .  .  . 

29.213 

29.444 

28.920 

0.524 

73.40 

94.55 

43.25 

51.30 

4.0 

E:  W=1 

2.53. 

N:  S=l:  1.00 

208.2 

0.0 

1.4.54 

1..550 

74 

6.62 

0.5862 

13 

9 

22 

0 

1 

6 

11 

0 

66.20 

84.20 

69.57 

89  50 

83 

August,  .  . 

29.177 

29.470 

28.911 

0.559 

68.90 

85.32 

41.67 

43.65 

5.2 

E:  W=1 

1.00. 

N:  S=l:  2.00 

193.8 

0.0 

1.342 

1.431 

76 

5.84 

0.5151 

5 

2 

16 

0 

0 

17 

12 

0 

60.80 

79.92 

66.20 

91  53 

83 

September, 

29.266 

29.488 

28.858 

0.630 

61.70 

87.57 

31.32 

56.25 

5.5 

E:  W=1 

1.00. 

N:  S=l:  4.09 

377.2 

0.0 

2.614 

2.787 

82 

5.01 

0.4441  : 

6 

2 

!) 

1 

2 

16 

14 

0 

54.27 

72.05 

57.87 

94  61 

90 

October,  .  . 

29.257 

29.479 

28.902 

0.577 

56.30 

80.15 

26.37 

53.78 

5.6 

E:  W=1 

1.52. 

N:  S=l:  2.00 

336.0 

0.0 

2.332 

2.486 

80 

4.01 

0.3553  ■ 

1 

2 

11 

6 

9 

13 

10 

0 

50.00 

66.42 

52.47 

93  58 

91 

November, 

29.213 

29.684 

28.689 

0.995 

37.62 

66.20 

15.35 

50.85 

8.0 

E:  W=1 

1.89. 

N:  S=1  :  1.00 

519.2 

14.6 

3.704 

3.948 

81 

2.19 

0.1954  ■ 

0 

0 

0 

7 

0 

2 

14 

6 

34.25 

42.80 

36.05 

88|70 

85 

Sums,  .  .  . 
Mean  of  the 
Year,  .  . 

4287.4 

389.6 

32.394 

34.532 

51 

25 

91 

36 

24 

110 

133 

28 

29.196 

49.68 

6.2 

E:  W=1 

:  1.92.5. 

N:  S=l:  2.009 

77 

3..575 

0.3197 

43.83 

57.98 

47.30 

88  61 

83 

Seasons. 

1 

Winter,  .  . 

29.240 

29.817 

28.547 

1.270 

27.60 

61.25 

-31.45 

92.70 

7.0 

E:  W=1 

:  2.16. 

N:  S=l:  2.22 

931.8 

365.2 

9.006 

9.600 

78 

1.439 

0.1243 

1 

0 

0 

9 

0 

22 

18 

17 

23.22 

33.27 

26.30 

88  70 

81 

Spring,  .  . 

29.090 

I  29.746 

28.280 

1.466 

50.00 

83.97 

6.35 

77.62 

6.6 

E;  W  =  1 

:  2.06. 

N:  S=l:  1.79 

1405.8 

9.8 

9.756 

10.399 

72 

3.110 

0.2753  , 

16 

4 

13 

13 

12 

24 

42 

5 

43.92 

,58.25 

47.97 

83 ' 56 

76 

Summer,  . 

29.195 

!  29.533 

28.813 

0.720 

69.12 

94.55 

37.17 

57.38 

4.7 

E:  W=1 

:  2.03. 

N:  S=l;  1.67 

717.4 

0.0 

4.982 

5.311 

76 

6.014 

0.5329 

27 

17 

58 

0 

1 

33 

35 

0 

62.00 

80.00 

66.12 

90  54 

84 

Autumn,  . 

29.248 

■  29.684 

28.689 

0.995 

51.80 

87.57 

15.35 

72.22 

6.4 

E:  W  =  1 

:  1.47. 

N;  S  =  l:  2.36 

1232.4 

14.6 

8.650 

9.221 

81 

3.737 

0.3286  1 

4 

20 

14 

11 

31 

38 

6 

46.17 

60.42 

48.80 

92  63 

89 

Barometer — English  Inches 
Thermometer — -Farenheft  •  •  • 
Thermometer — Ueaumur  •  ■  ■ 


YEARLY  EXTREMEI 


■29.817. 
■94.55  ■ 
■27.8  ■ 


■  19th  January,  1802 
■23d  July . 


-31.45. 
-28.2  . 


■  24th  March  ■  ■ 

■  20th  January 


1.537 

126.00 

56.0 


MEAN  TEMPERATURE  OF  THE  WARMEST  AND  COLDEST  DAY. 


Warmest  day  ■ 
Coldest  day  ■  ■ 


Range  • 


■  ■81.27  ■ 
—13.67  ■ 


■21.9. 

-20.3. 


■  23d  July. 

■  19th  January. 


46.53 

60.31 

. 

48.88 

85 

58 

82 

1664.8 

193.8 

28.47 

38.75 

32.15 

88 

71 

85 

785.6 

53.4 

44.75 

58.25 

48.57 

79 

52 

74 

1280.2 

0.0 

1 

67.84 

83.75 

69.05 

82 

49 

81 

1006.6 

0.0 

45.05 

60.50 

49.10 

91 

62 

86 

ies  of  Snow. 


3ST  DAY. 

Range. 

Date. 

•1.501 

11.59 

49.6 

Warmest 
Coldest  d£ 

Kange  •  • 

I’  B  L  I  1  I 


METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS, 

MADE  AT  GERMANTOWN,  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  OHIO. 

OK,  X  H  E  E  X  E  O  K  O  L  O  O  I  C  ^  X,  "Z-  E  ^  K  18eS-’S3,  B  "Z"  E.  O  K  O  3Sr  E  -W  E  O 


1852. 
December, 

1853. 
January, 
February, 
March,  . 
April,  .  . 
May,  .  . 
June,  .  . 
July,  .  . 
August,  . 
September, 
October,  .  . 
November, 

Sums,  .  .  . 
Mean  of  the 
Year,  .  . 
Seasons. 
Winter,  .  . 
Spring,  .  . 
Summer,  . 
Autumn,  . 


Barometfii. 

Corrected  and  reduced  to  the  Freeiing 
I’oint,  or  .32  deg.  Fahrenheit, 
English  Inchrj^. 


Open  Air  Thermometer,  Fahrenheit. 


Mfintlily 

Mean. 

Maximum 

Minirotun 

Varia* 

tiODS. 

Monthly 

Means. 

Maximum. 

Minimum. 

1  Varia- 
j  tions. 

Month- 

ly 

Means. 

29.177 

i  29.639 

28.565 

1.074 

36.27 

59.45 

9.72 

49.73 

7.26 

E: 

W=l: 

:  1.41. 

N: 

S=] 

1:  4.60 

29.284 

29.808 

28.307 

l.,501 

31.55 

56.30 

3.87 

52.43 

5.99 

E: 

W=1 

1.30. 

N: 

S=] 

[ :  1.35 

29.186 

29.666 

28.742 

0.924 

30.87 

54.27 

-14.12 

68.39 

6.95 

E: 

W=1 

2.90. 

N: 

S=] 

1 :  2.06 

29.186  j 

29.639 

28.707 

0.932 

38.52 

69.80 

9.72 

60.08 

6.34 

E: 

W=1 

2.69. 

N: 

S=] 

I  ;  1.52 

29.168 

29.497 

28.751 

0.746 

51.80 

78,57 

21.20 

57.37 

5.67 

E: 

W=1 

1.30. 

N: 

8=1 

1 ;  1.35 

2.9.201 

29.453 

28.884 

0.569 

61.25 

89.60 

28.85 

60.75 

4.99 

E: 

W=1 

2.31. 

N; 

S=] 

[ ;  2.28 

29.248 

29.479 

29.035 

0.444 

76.10 

97.47 

41.00 

56.47 

3.64 

E: 

W=1 

3.00. 

N: 

s=] 

L :  4.45 

29.240 

29.417 

28.973 

0.444 

72.72 

92.97 

45.05 

47.92 

4.89 

E: 

W=1 

0.53. 

N: 

S=l:  1.19 

29.195 

29.524 

29.000 

0.524 

71.82 

92.75 

46.85 

45.90  1 

4.32 

E: 

W=1 

2.92. 

N; 

S=1 

[ :  2.29 

29.248 

29.488 

28.840 

0.648 

63.50 

86.45 

37.62 

•48.83 

5.13  1 

E: 

W=1 

1.23. 

N: 

s=] 

L :  1.61 

29.257 

29.595 

28.689 

0.906 

46.62 

72.05 

26.82 

4.5.23 

4.52 

E: 

W=1 

2.07. 

N: 

s=] 

L :  2.26 

29.373 

29.737 

28.964 

0.773 

44.60 

67.77 

22.32 

45.45  J 

1 

6.50 

E: 

W=1 

1.00. 

N: 

s=] 

:  2.53 

29.2305 

52.135 

5.517 

E: 

W=l; 

:  1.888. 

N: 

s=] 

L :  2.290 

29.216 

29.808 

28.307 

1..501  1 

32.897 

59.45 

-14.12 

73.57 

6.73 

E: 

W=  1 : 

:  1.87. 

N: 

s=] 

L :  2.67 

29.186 

2!).  639 

28.707 

0.!)32  j 

50.523' 

89.60 

9.72 

79.88  ' 

5.67 

E: 

W  =  l; 

:  2.10. 

N: 

s=] 

1 :  1.72 

29.228  j 

29.524 

28.973 

0.651 

73.547 

97.47 

41.00 

56.47 

4.28  ! 

E: 

W=1  ; 

;  2.15. 

N: 

S=1 

•  2  64. 

29.293 

29.737 

28.689 

1.048 

51.573 

1 

86.45 

22.32 

64.13 

5.38  1 

E: 

W  =  l; 

;  1.43. 

N: 

S=l:  2.13 

Quantity  of  Rain  and 
Melted  Snow. 

Paris  Cubic  Inch. 

Pcrpendieular  depth 

1  of  Rain  and  Melted 
j  Snow. 

Rela. 

five 

Hu- 

midi- 

Force  of  Vapor. 

Monthly  Means. 

1 

1 

Rain 

Melted 

1  Paris 

English 

M’th- 

Paris 

English 

1 

Snow. 

Inches. 

!  Inches. 

Ivm’s 
Pr  ct. 

Lines. 

Inches. 

B 

p 

1332.2 

2.2 

9.266 

1  9.878 

1 

82 

2.087 

0.1865 

2 

97.0 

47.6 

1.004 

1.070 

80 

1.561 

0.1421 

0 

235.6 

144.0 

2.836 

3.023 

81 

1.650 

0.1510 

1 

170.2 

53.4 

1.552 

1.654 

72 

1.905 

0.1687 

1 

422.6 

0.0 

2.934 

3.128 

68 

2.8.54 

0.2576 

8 

192.8 

0.0 

1.338 

1.426 

66 

4.066 

0.3641 

7 

209.4 

0.0 

1.454 

1.5.50 

65 

6.382 

0.5684 

10 

478.2 

0.0 

3.320 

3.539 

68 

5.993 

0.5329 

4 

592.6 

0.0 

4.116  1 

4.388 

79 

6.777 

0.6039 

10 

335.8 

0.0 

2.332  1 

2.486 

82 

5.545 

0.4885  1 

313.8 

0.0 

2.178 

2.322 

78 

2.737 

0.2398  1 

1 

357.0 

0.0 

2.404  1 

1 

2.563 

79 

2.757 

0.2487 

0 

4737.2 

247.2 

34.734 

37.027 

i 

t 

49 

j 

75 

3.684 

0.32935 

1664.8 

1 

193.8  i 

13.106  i 

1.3.971  ' 

81 

1.766 

0.1599 

3 

785.6 

53.4  i 

5.824  j 

6.208  1 

69 

2.942 

0.2635 

16 

1280.2 

0.0 

8.890  1 

9.477 

71 

6.348 

0.5684 

24 

1006.6 

0.0 

6.914  ; 

7.371  1 

80 

3.680 

0.3257 

6 

Number  of  Days,  with 


6  ;  20 
3  1  17 


25  ;  87 


1  '  0 
6  !  13 
15  56 


Fog  & 
Mist. 


Mean  Temperature. 


32.00  41.22 


27.27  ; 
26.15  I 
32.67  I 
46.17 
55.40 
70.02 
67.55 
65.97  I 
57.42  I 
38.07  i 
39.65 


37.40 
37.62 
44.60 
59.67 
70.47 
87. .35 

82.40 
81.50 
72.27 
57.87 
51.35 


28.47  38.75 
44.75  !  58.25 
67.84  I  8.3.75 
45.05  ;  60.50 


35.60 

29.97 

30.87 

38.30 

49.32 

58.10 

70.92 

68.22 

68.00 

61.25 

43.47 

42.57 


32.15 

48.57 

69.05 

49.10 


Relative  Ht 
midity. 
Per  cent. 


s  ,  s  I  a 


89  69  i 
87  69 
84  55 
76  52 
77,481 
76  41  ! 
79 , 48  j 

90  57 
94  64 
93  i  56 
87  65 


85  58 


88  71  85 
79  !  52  74 
82 ' 49  I  81 
91  ,  62  ’  86 

I 


”  Small  Flakes  of  Snow. 


YEARLY  EXTREMES. 

MEAN  TEMPERATURE  OF  THE  WARMEST  AND  COLDEST  DAY. 

Maximum. 

Date. 

Minimum. 

Date. 

Range. 

1  Fahrenheit. 

Reaumur. 

Date. 

Barometer — English  Inches . 

Thermometer — -Karcnhcit . 

•  •  •  •  28th  January,  1853  •  •  • . 

•••  •28.307. 

- 14.12  .... 

- 20.5  .... 

. 23d  January . | 

.•1.501 

Warmest  day . 

Thermometer — Ueaumur . 

••■•29.1  .... 

. 9th  February . j 

. 1 

111.59 

49.6 

Range . 

. —13.13 . 

. 35.83 . 

. 9th  February. 

4y.i50 

61.45 

5U.11 

85 

56 

81 

.783 

1055.0^ 

14 

26.60 

36.72 

29.00 

86 

65 

81 

1.39 

2784.1^ 

4 

46.32 

60.12 

49.17 

82 

53 

78 

1.43 

904.0^ 

0 

68.67 

84.87 

69.95 

84 

50 

84 

.38 

986.0^ 

1 

47.82 

64.10 

52.32 

88 

57 

83 

LDEST  DAY. 


Range. 


..1.492 

109.34 

48.6 


r. 


Date. 


30th  July. 
23d  January. 


A  1 .  K  I  V 


METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS 


MADE  AT  GERMANTOWN,  MONTGOMER'y  COUNTY,  OHIO. 

FOR  THE  Ivi:  E  T  E  O  R  O  E  O  C3-  I  C  ^  E  E  ^  R  1  8  a  3  -  ’  e  4  ,  B  -V  E.  O  R  O  RT  E  W  E  G  , 


1853. 
Docomber, 

1854.  1 
January,  .  ! 
February,  .  | 
Narcli,  .  .  I 
April,  .  .  .  1 
May,  .  .  •  j 
June,  .  .  . 
July,  .  .  .  ' 
August,  .  . 
September,  ] 
October,  .  .  ! 
November, 

Sums,  ... 
Means  of  the 
Year,  .  . 

Seasons. 
■\Vinter,  .  . 
Spring,  .  . 
Summer,  . 
Autumn,  . 


^  ‘BAnoarrrrn.  ‘ 

Corrected  aud  reduced  to  the  Freeziug 
Point,  or  32  deg.  Fahrenheit, 

I'jivjlish  Inches. 

Open  Air  Thermometer,  Fahrenheit. 

Clear-  | 
uess  of 
tlte 
Sky.  1 

■\Vind,  Directions,  Monthly  means. 

Monthly 

.Means. 

•Maximum. 

Minimum. 

Varia¬ 

tions. 

Monthly 

-Means. 

Maximum.^ 

Minimum. t 

_ ! 

Varia- 

Month¬ 

ly 

Means. 

28.213  : 

29.586 

28.476 

1.110 

1 

29.07 

53.82 

1.40 

52.41 

5.69 

E: 

w= 

=  1: 

3.06. 

N: 

S=l: 

2.39 

28.275  ' 

29.959 

28.467  ; 

1 

1.492  1 

27.95 

62.82 

-9.62 

72.44 

6.65 

E; 

w= 

=  1 

3.20. 

N: 

S=l; 

4.00 

28.240 

28.693  1 

28.591  : 

1.102 

3.5.37 

59.22 

10.40 

48.82 

6.35 

E; 

=  1 

2.45. 

N: 

S=l: 

1.96 

28.177 

29.638  j 

28.644 

0.995 

42.57 

73.85 

18.50 

5,5.33 

5.68 

E: 

W= 

=  1 

2.9.5. 

N; 

S=l: 

1.89 

2,0.185 

29.737 

28.751 

0.996 

51.12 

86.00 

21.20 

64.80 

6.37 

E: 

4V= 

=  1 

1.20. 

N: 

S=l: 

1.46 

28.142  ' 

29.381 

28.618  1 

0.773 

61.92 

83.97 

34.70 

49.27 

5.23 

E; 

W= 

=  1 

1.72. 

N: 

S=l: 

3.82 

28.168  j 

29.444 

28.813  - 

0.631 

70.92 

94.10 

43.70 

50.40 

4.53 

E: 

W= 

=1 

3.26. 

N: 

S=l: 

4.60 

29.231  i 

29.453 

28.053  : 

0.400 

77.22 

98.15 

52.92 

45.23 

3.11 

E: 

W= 

=  1 

1.45. 

N: 

S=l: 

1.97 

29.248  1 

29.389 

29.115  1 

0.284 

1  75.42 

98.15 

31.35 

66.80 

,3.92 

E; 

:  W= 

=  1 

2.62. 

N: 

S=l: 

0.71 

28.266 

28.710 

28.946 

0.764 

70.85 

99.72 

38.75 

60.97 

4.13 

E: 

:  W= 

=  1 

2.78. 

N: 

S=l; 

0.81 

29.337  ' 

29.648 

28.973  ' 

0.675 

,55.17 

79.70 

28.62 

51.08 

4.72 

E: 

W= 

=  1 

2.50. 

N: 

S=l: 

1.89 

28.186 

29.719 

28.716 

1.003 

38.40 

64.40 

19.85 

44.55 

6.02 

E: 

W= 

=  1 

8.71. 

N: 

S=l; 

1.43 

28.2232 

i 

1 

52.998 

5.20 

E: 

W= 

=  1 

;  2.991. 

N: 

S=l; 

;  2.244 

29.243 

'  29.959 

28.467 

1 

i  1.492 

30.797 

62.82 

-9.62 

72.44 

6.23 

E: 

:  W= 

=  1 

:  2.903. 

N: 

S=l; 

;  2.783 

29.171 

29.737 

28.618 

1.119 

51.870 

86.00 

18.50 

07.,50 

5.76 

E: 

;  W  = 

=  1 

:  1.96. 

N: 

S=1 

;  2.39 

29.216 

^  29.453 

28.813 

1  0.640 

74.520 

98.15 

31..35 

66.80 

3.85 

E; 

:  W= 

=  1 

;  2.44. 

N: 

S=1 

;  2.43 

1  28.263 

1 

i  29.719 

28.716 

1.003 

1 

54.807 

99.72 

19.85 

79.87 

4.96 

:  W  = 

=  1 

:  4.66. 

N: 

S  =  1 

:  1.38 

Quantity  of  Rain  and  i 
Melted  Snow.  j 

Paris  Cubic  Inch.  ! 

l*erpendicular  depth 
of  Rain  and  Melted 
Snow. 

Rela. 

Hu- 

ty- 

M’th- 
lym’s 
Pr  ct. 

Force  of  Vapor. 

Monthly  Means. 

■°  i 

Number  of  Days,  with 

Mean  Temperature. 

llelatire  Hu¬ 
midity. 

Per  cent. 

Rain. 

1 

Melted  j 

Paris  ! 
Inches.  [ 

English 

Inches. 

Paris 

Lines. 

English 

Inches. 

1 

1 

Heat 

Light 

nings. 

Dew. 

Froz’n^ 
Dew.  ] 

Dry  Fog& 
Mist.  Mist,  j 

Rain. 

Snow. 

7  A.  M.  2  P.  M. 

! 

9  P.  M. 

7  A.  M. 

y  y 

1 

75.82 

73.56 

1.3004 

1.386 

80 

1.484  1 

1 

0.133 

0 

0  [ 

0  i 

i 

9 

8  8 

6 

5 

25.25  35.60 

1 

1 

26.60 

91 

63  87 

442.92 

59.16 

3.4867  ! 

3.717 

78 

1.481 

0.133 

1 

0 

0 

3 

0  ;  6 

8 

6 

24.12  1  32.90 

27.05 

85 

68'  81 

536.28 

96.35 

4.3930 

4.683 

74 

1.793 

0,159 

2 

0 

0 

6 

8  ;  4 

8 

3 

30.42  .41.67 

33.35  1 

81 

64  76 

800.86 

6.00 

5.6030 

5.973 

71 

2.327 

0.204 

2 

2 

1 

8 

10  6 

10 

1 

36.72  '  50.67 

41.22  1 

82 

52  77 

570.96 

45.93 

4.2840 

4.567 

71 

3.095 

0.275 

9 

4  i 

9 

3 

6  111 

10 

3 

46.17  '  59.45 

48.20  1 

82 

55  i  77 

1412.36 

0.00 

9.8081 

10.455 

70 

4.313 

0.382 

8 

4  : 

13  ' 

0 

3:3 

14 

0 

56.07  70.25 

58.10 

81 

52  79 

263.75 

0.00 

1.8310 

1.952 

77 

6.530 

0.577 

11 

6  ' 

18 

0 

2,3 

11 

0 

66.65  79.47 

66.65 

86 

57  ,  87 

45.5.35 

0.00 

3.1622 

3.371 

71 

7.328 

0.657 

6 

10 

26 

0 

0  '  1  1 

7 

0 

71.37  1  88.02 

72.27  : 

81 

49:  84 

184.95 

0.00 

1.2840 

1.369 

70 

6.637 

0.586 

6 

4 

18 

0 

10  3 

6 

0 

68.00  '  87.12 

70.92 

80 

44  80 

146.89 

0.00 

1.0200 

1.087 

73 

6.068 

0.542 

5 

4 

7 

0 

4  '  2 

8 

0 

63.50  '  81.95 

67.10 

87 

51  80 

378.86 

0.00 

2.6310 

2.805 

79 

2.889 

0.346 

1 

0 

7 

4 

0  4 

9 

0 

47.07  '  65.52 

52.92 

93 

57  ;  87 

460.40 

2.40 

3.2140 

3.426 

76 

1.905 

0.169 

0 

0 

0 

1  ^ 

7,  2 

7 

1 

32.90  44.82 

1 

36.95 

84 

62  j  81 

5729.40 

283.40 

42.0174 

44.791 

51 

34 

i  99 

i  42 

1 

58  ,  43 

1 

104 

43 

1 

I 

74 

3.913 

0.3464 

1 

1 

47.35  61.45 

50.11 

85 

56  81 

1055.02 

229.07 

9.180 

9.786 

77 

1.586 

0.142 

3 

0 

i 

0 

1 

18 

16  '  18 

22 

14 

26.60  36.72 

29.00 

86 

65  81 

2784.18 

51.93 

19.695 

20.995 

71 

3.245 

0.284 

19 

10 

23 

!  11 

19  10 

34 

4 

46.32  !  60.12 

49.17 

82 

53  '  78 

904.05 

0.00 

6.277 

6.692 

73 

6.832 

0.604 

23 

20 

62 

!  0 

12  '  7 

24 

0 

68.67  1  84.87 

69.95 

84 

50  84 

986.05 

2.40 

6.865 

7.318 

1 

76 

3.954 

0.355 

6 

4 

14 

1 

'  13 

11  8 

24 

1 

47.82  '  64.10 

i 

52.32 

88 

, 57  !  83 

MEAN  TEMPERATURE  OF  THE  WARMEST  AND  COLDEST  DAY. 


1 

Maximum. 

Date. 

Minimum. 

Date. 

Range. 

Fahrenheit. 

Reaumur. 

Date. 

Barometer — English  Inches . 

••29.959-.  •• 

■  •  •  •  23d  January,  1854  ■  ■  •  • 

•  ■1.492 
109.34 
48.6 

Warmest  day . 

.  2  07  . 

. 23.8  . 

. 30th  July. 

Thermometer — Farenheit . 

Thermometer — Reaumur . 

- 99.72  •  ■  •  • 

..  ..30.1/  ..  .. 

- 9.62  •  •  •  • 

. — 18.5 

Coldest  day . 

1  Range . 

. 37.1  . 

Plate  I. 

L(ztLtiid&  39  °  31 
Lon^7t7zde^84^''20'J1^ 
of  1  ^futiOTi/  adoi'8  S 

Tie, 

t^er 

Ociode/^ 

Wbvembei'’ 

Decemdeo 

Meau/nzu 

Fa/zre/z7iy/7 

as.  as 
a/ .  a/) 

2 

5 

22.7) 

82.32 

87  .30 

ao.  37 
37,9  .  SS 

2 

3 

21.  O 

80.37 
.73  .  23 
78.12 

77 .OO  . 
73.87 
..Z^37S  - 

7a  72 
7i7.00 

3 

20.0 

3 

7.9.0 

73.37 
JLa^.  7.7 

7 

73.32 

o 

73.  32 

71 .37 
7/). 2,7 

77 

78  O 

.32.30 

77 .37 

70  23 

3 

77  O 

33  IS 
33.03 

73 

\ 

3 

73  O 

30.12 

38  OO 

33.37 

3.7  73 

7 

\ 

\ 

3 

7.7  O 

33.87 

33.73 

34  32 
-  3.^  .70 

74 

y  ' 

\  ' 

\  ' 

3 

74  O 

34.32 
3.i)  .70 

32.37 

3/227 

78 

■A  > 

V 

‘\ 

3 
7.3  O 

32.37 
37  23 

30.12 

-  30  Oo 

72 

\  •Ij' 

\ 

\ 

\ 

3 

72  7) 

30. 12 

3.9  OO 

37.87 
 33  777 

77 

v  •-'i 

jf  ■ 
\ 

""vA 

3 

77  7) 

37.  87 
.73  7.7 

33.32 

- 

70 

H 

\  s" 

V  ^  •.  Y 

S 
77)  7) 

33.32 
.74  .70 

33. .37 

-.73. 2.7 

O 

\  \  \-  \ 

V  %  \  \ 

V  tt-  1  ( 

3 

.^7) 

33.37 
32  2.7 

32.12 

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Plate H, 


METEOROLOeiCAL  OBSERVATIONS 


MADE  IN 


MONTGOMERY  COUNTY, 


SOUTHEHlSr  OHIO, 


AND  A 


CONDENSED  TREATISE 


YI  E  T  E  0  R  O  L  O  G  Y'  IN  G  E  N  E  R  A  L  . 


By  L.  GEONEWEG, 

PRACTICAL  AND  ANALYTICAL  CHEAIIST,  MEMBER  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ASSOCIATION  FOR  THE 
ADVANCEMENT  OF  SCIENCE,  AND  METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVER  FOR 
THE  SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION. 


GERMANTOWN: 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  AUTHOR. 
1  8  5  6. 


CINCINNATI: 

WILLIAM  0  VEREND  d-  CO.  Printers. 
25  West  Fourth  Street. 


ON 


METEOEOLOGT  IN  GENEEAL. 


“  The  prosperity  of  the  United  States,  as  a  whole,  is  intimately 
connected  with  and  dependent  upon  its  climate.  Its  greatest 
business  interests  are  those  of  agricultural  productions,  with 
those  immediately  dependent  upon  them  as  the  direct  exchange 
of,  and  commerce  in,  raw  products.  To  the  planting  States,  more 
particularly,  a  knowledge  of  the  permanent  climate  of  every 
district  is  most  important,  as  a  guide  to  its  general  productive 
capacity,  and  to  its  special  adaptation  to  particular  products.” 

[Prof.  Lorin  Blodget. 

Granting  the  above  position  to  he  true,  my  observations  of  five 
years,  which  I  herewith  offer  to  the  public,  will  not  he  deemed 
superfluous. 

This  treatise  is  not  directed  to  a  particular  class.  I  do  not  wish 
to  recognize  special  classes  among  civilized  people.  Every  person, 
the  farmer,  the  mechanic,  the  physician,  etc.,  will  find  material 
interesting  to  him ;  if  not  generally,  at  least  partially  so.  That 
it  may  prove  useful,  is  my  desire. 

The  observations  were  made  at  Germantown,  Montgomery 
county,  Ohio. 

Germantown  is  a  handsome  village,  situated  in  the  fertile 
valley  of  Twin  creek,  a  tributary  to  the  Miami  river.  The 
different  instruments  used  in  making  these  observations,  will 
hereinafter  he  described,  and  are  placed  as  follows : 

The  Barometer  is  a  crane-barometer  (having  no  constant  level) 
with  two  microscopes  for  observing  the  accurate  stand  of  the 
mercury  column.  It  is  graduated  so  fine  as  to  show  the  hun¬ 
dredths  of  a  Paris  line,  or  the  twelve-hundredths  of  a  Paris  inch, 


[4] 

which  enables  me  to  estimate  the  thousandths  of  a  Paris  line."' 
Two  thermometers  are  attached  to  the  barometer;  the  bulb  of  one 
is  immersed  in  mercury,  the  other  surrounded  by  metal:  the 
first  to  show  the  temperature  of  the  mercury,  the  other  the  tem¬ 
perature  of  the  scale.  The  fixed  point  which  serves  as  an  invari¬ 
able  point  of  reference,  is  the  level  of  the  bed  of  a  rivulet,  washing 
my  garden.  The  zero  of  the  scale  of  the  barometer  is  13  ft.  6  in. 
above  it.  It  is  placed  near  a  window  on  the  north  side  of  my  house. 

The  scale  of  the  standard  thermometer  is  graduated  according 
to  Eeaumur,  the  degrees  being  subdivided  into  tenths  of  degrees. 
It  is  placed  in  the  open  air  on  the  north  side  of  the  house,  always 
in  the  shade,  and  ten  inches  from  the  walls  of  the  building.  The 
bulb  is  5  ft.  9  in.  above  the  ground.  It  is  protected  against  its  own 
radiation  to  the  sky,  and  sheltered  from  the  rain,  snow  and  hail. 

The  psychrometery  or  wet-bulb  thermometer,  is  also  graduated 
according  to  Eeaumur,  and  the  degrees  are  subdivided  into  tenths 
of  degrees.  It  is  situated  like  the  standard  thermometer,  on  the 
same  wooden  bars,  some  inches  off.  The  linen  cloth  which  sur¬ 
rounds  the  bulb  is  of  medium  fineness,  and  is  changed  every  two 
months,  or  as  often  as  necessary. 

The  self-registering  thermometer,  which  indicates  the  minimum 
is  graduated  also  according  to  Eeaumur,  and  placed  beside  the 
common  thermometer,  in  a  horizontal  position,  with  the  bulb 
opposite  and  free.  It  is  not  filled  with  mercury  as  the  other 
thermometers,  but  with  alcohol,  and  fitted  with  a  glass  stick, 
which  remains  at  the  lowest  point. 

The  self-registering  thermometer,  indicating  the  maximum, 
became  broke,  for  which  reason  all  my  observations  of  the  maxi¬ 
mum  are  the  results  of  observations  frequently  made  in  day- 
time,  or  from  the  observation  at  2  P.  M. 

All  these  instruments  are  correct,  except  the  barometric 
vacuum  keeps  a  little  air ;  the  sound  which  it  gives  by  inclining, 
to  cause  the  mercury  to  strike  against  the  top,  is  fiat,  not  quite 
clear. 

The  ombrometer  or  rain  gauge  is  a  zinc  funnel  to  which  are 
attached  two  graduated  cylindrical  glass  vessels.  The  square 


135.114  Paris  lines  are  equal  to  12  Eng.  inches ;  or  337.785  to  30  Eng.  inches. 


[5] 

opening  of  the  funnel  is  of  the  size  of  one  Paris  square  foot,  or 
144  Paris  square  inches,  and  one  Paris  inch  of  rain  in  depth  gives 
one  hundred  and  forty-four  cubic  inches  of  water.  Each  division 
of  the  glass  contains  a  cubic  inch  of  water ;  each  of  them  repre¬ 
sents  a  hundred  and  forty-fourth  of  a  Paris  inch  of  rain  fallen 
into  the  ombrometer.  These  degrees  are  large  enough  to  permit 
me  to  estimate  the  thousandths  of  an  inch.  It  is  placed  in  an 
open  square. 

I  am  not  in  possession  of  a  snow-gauge,  and  have  therefore 
collected  all  the  snow  by  the  funnel  of  the  ombrometer,  and  after 
melting  measured  it  the  same  way  I  did  rain-water. 

The  wind-vane  is  placed  on  a  little  hill  near  the  house,  away 
from  every  obstacle  whatever.  The  observations  are  made  three 
times  daily,  in  the  first  two  years  (1851  and  1852);  they  were 
made  at  6  A.  M.,  2  P.  M.  and  10  P.  M.,  in  the  following  three  years 
(1853, 1854  and  1855),  for  the  purpose  of  producing  uniformity 
with  the  observations  made  by  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  at  7  A. 
M.,  2  P.  M.  and  9  P.  M.  All  measurements  are  reduced  to 
English  measure  to  conform  with  the  Institute,  French  measure 
being  also  retained  for  greater  correctness  and  comparison. 

The  barometer,  which  was  invented  by  Evangelista  Torricelli, 
in  1640,  is  used  to  measure  the  pressure  of  the  air.  The  atmos¬ 
pheric  pressure  on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  on  all  parts  of  our 
bodies,  amounts  to  a  weight  of  15  pounds  on  the  square  inch. 
This  instrument  is  called  barometer  from  ^apo<;  (weight,  press¬ 
ure),  and  perpov  (measure).  It  indicates  the  minute  changes  of 
the  atmosphere,  in  regard  to  its  gravity  or  pressure,  and  enables 
us  also  to  use  it  for  the  measurement  of  elevations,  of  mountains, 
etc.,  because  the  stand  of  the  mercury  is  standing  in  a  certain 
proportion  to  an  ascending  elevation  ;  it  is  therefore  an  instru¬ 
ment  of  much  importance.  Its  construction  depends  on  the 
known  fact,  that  if  a  glass  tube,  three  feet  in  length,  be  filled 
with  mercury,  and  its  open  end  be  inverted  in  a  basin  of  the 
same  liquid,  the  mercury  in  the  tube  will  stand,  for  instance,  at 
the  level  of  the  sea,  nearly  30  inches  higher  tlian  the  surface  of 
that  in  the  basin.  This  column  of  mercury  is  balanced  by  a 
column  of  air  of  the  same  section  as  the  column  of  mercury  and 
extending  to  the  top  of  the  atmosphere. 


[6] 

The  thermometer,  an  instrument  much  known,  was  invented  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  by  Cornelius  Drehhel, 
as  it  is  generally  supposed,  and  is  used  to  observe  the  tempera¬ 
ture  of  the  air,  of  fluids,  etc.  Its  principles  belong  to  the  law  of 
expansion  by  heat.  The  mercury  is  that  material  which  expands 
most  gradually  from  the  freezing  point  to  the  heat  of  boiling 
water,  and  is  therefore  mostly  used  for  filling  the  thermometrical 
glass  tube.  There  are  different  scales ;  the  scale  according  to 
Keaumur  is  divided,  from  the  freezing  point  to  boiling  water,  into 
80  degrees ;  the  scale  of  Celsius,  into  100  degrees,  and  that  of 
Fahrenheit  into  180  degrees;  so  that  4  degrees  Eeaumur  are 
equal  to  5  degrees  Celsius,  and  to  9  degrees  Fahrenheit.  By 
Keaumur  and  Celsius  the  freezing  point  of  water  is  marked  at  0, 
zero,  but  by  Fahrenheit  at  32  degrees,  and  zero  by  Fahrenheit  is 
therefore  32  degrees  below  the  freezing  point  of  water.  Its  use 
gave  its  name  osp/w:;  (warmth),  and  per  pop  (measure). 

The  wet-bulb  thermometer  is  called,  by  August,  Psychrometer, 
from  (fuxpo^  (cold),  and  pszpop  (measure),  because  it  shows  gen¬ 
erally  a  lower  temperature  at  the  same  time  than  the  common 
thermometer,  on  account  of  the  evaporation  of  the  water  which 
is  used  to  wet  it.  The  dryer  the  air  the  more  the  two  thermometers 
will  differ ;  the  contrary  conditions  will  produce  a  closer  approxima¬ 
tion  between  them  ;  and  this  fact  affords  us  a  medium  to  ascertain, 
in  the  surest  way,  the  humidity  of  the  air,  for  which  it  is  used. 
Both,  the  common  thermometer  as  well  as  the  wet-bulb  ther¬ 
mometer,  are  to  be  fitted,  for  the  purpose,  at  the  same  stand  of 
the  barometer;  except  this,  one  would  be  different  from  the 
other,  because  water  does  not  base  at  the  same  temperature  on 
different  stands  of  the  barometer.  For  instance,  on  very  high 
elevations,  or  mountains,  where  the  barometer  stands  very  low, 
water  boils  at  a  temperature  which  is  not  sufficient  to  cook 
eggs. 

The  tables,  accompanying  this  treatise  are  prepared,  for  every 
year,  to  show  the  mean  stand  of  the  barometer  in  each  month ; 
also,  the  mean  temperature,  the  mean  direction  of  the  wind,  the 
mean  of  the  relative  humidity  and  of  the  force  of  vapor;  the 
maxima  and  minima  of  the  barometer  and  thermometer,  the 
quantity  of  rain  and  snow  fallen  in  each  month,  the  perpendicu- 


[7] 

lar  depth  of  rain  and  melted  snow,  the  clearness  of  the  sky, 
number  of  thunder-storms,  number  of  days  with  heat-lightnings, 
dew,  rain,  snow,  etc. 

The  barometrical  observations  are  reduced  to  32°  Fahrenheit. 

The  clearness  of  the  sky,  or  the  amount  of  clouds,  is  noted  in 
numbers  from  0,  clear,  to  10,  entirely  cloudy. 

The  mean  of  the  several  instruments,  etc.,  is,  the  result  of 
the  sums  of  the  three  observations  daily,  made  at  the  different 
hours,  divided  by  three,  and  the  monthly  mean  is  drawn  from 
these  means  for  each  day.  Separately  will  be  found  the  monthly 
mean  of  the  observations  at  6  resp.  7  A.  M.,  2  P.  M.,  and  9  resp. 
10  P.  M.,  for  the  temperature  and  the  relative  humidity  of  these 
times ;  and  each  table  shows  the  means  and  sums  of  the  above 
for  the  whole  year  and  the  different  seasons.  I  wish  to  observe, 
that  the  meteorological  year  begins  December  1,  and  ends  Novem¬ 
ber  30  of  the  following  civil  year,  and  that  the  meteorological 
seasons  are,  then : 

Winter  —  December,  January,  February. 

Spring  —  March,  April,  May. 

Summer — June,  July,  August. 

Autumn  —  September,  October,  November. 

In  the  thermometrical  observations,  the  quantity  above  zero  is 
always  written  without  a  sign ;  the  negative  quantity  is  individu¬ 
ally  marked  with  the  sign  minus,  ( — ). 

The  minima  of  temperature  of  the  month  and  year  are  taken 
from  the  self-registering  thermometer.  The  relative  humidity 
is  the  per  centage  of  moisture  which  the  air  at  the  time  contains ; 
100  being  the  full  saturation. 

The  force  of  vapor  is  the  barometrical  pressure,  which  is  caused 
by  the  free  moisture  of  the  atmosphere. 

The  mean  direction  of  the  wind  is  noted  by  Schow,  viz :  the 
different  directions  of  winds,  which  were  noted  in  a  fixed  time, 
day,  month,  year,  are  added  up ;  as,  for  instance,  the  northerly 
wind  was  noted  six  times,  the  southerly  eight  times,  it  bears  the 
proportion,  N.:  S.=6.;8,  or  1 :  1.33.  Consequently,  the  southerly 
wind  was  in  that  time  prevailing  so  much  as  to  bear  the  propor¬ 
tion  of  1 :  1.33,  or  N.:  S.  =  1 :  1.33.  The  same  of  east  and  west 
winds.  Therefore  the  tables  contain  more  of  a  comparison 


[8] 


between  north  and  south  and  between  east  and  west  wind,  in  a 
fixed  time,  than  its  mean  direction.  Lambert’s  method  of  work, 
on  this  point,  is  excelleut;  but  I  did  not  avail  myself  of  it. 

Each  table  also  contains  the  yearly  extremes  of  the  barometer 
and  thermometer,  and  the  mean  temperature  of  the  warmest  and 
coldest  day  of  the  year. 

The  sixth  table  shows  the  mean  of  all  five  years  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  others  do  for  each  year  separately,  and  this  gives 
the  climate  of  Montgomery  county  as  near  as  five  years  observa¬ 
tions  possibly  can  do  it. 

The  plates  are  arranged  for  greater  convenience  of  comparison. 
Every  year  has  its  own  mark ;  the  dots  between  the  descending 
lines,  which  separate  the  different  months,  are  united  by  lines  of 
the  year,  and  show  the  degrees  in  tenths,  or  the  inches  and  lines, 
which  are  marked  on  both  sides.  The  horizontal  lines  in  the  first 
plate  show  the  mean  temperature  of  the  different  years  and  seasons. 

PRESSURE  OF  THE  ATMOSPHERE. 

The  barometer,  by  its  oscillations,  is  said  to  show  the  different 
variations  of  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere.  But  these  oscilla¬ 
tions  are  very  often  depending  upon  the  temperature  of  the  sur¬ 
rounding  air ;  it  therefore  becomes  necessary  to  reduce  all 
barometrical  observations  to  a  fixed  point — to  the  freezing  point, 
or  32*^  Fahrenheit.  As  may  be  expected,  these  oscillations  of  the 
barometer,  which  depend  on  the  surrounding  temperature, 
are  very  irregular,  but  there  are  oscillations  which  are  indepen¬ 
dent  of  it,  and  are  very  regular.  At  noon  the  mercury  column 
of  the  barometer  begins  to  decline,  till  between  three  and  five 
P.  M.,  when  it  sinks  to  the  lowest  point.  It  ascends  then  again, 
and  reaches  a  maximum  between  nine  and  eleven  P.  M.  It 
declines  then  again  till  about  four  A.  M.,  when  it  sinks  to  a  mini¬ 
mum,  and  then  ascends  again  to  a  maximum  about  ten  A.  M. 
This  seems  to  be  the  regularity  alluded  to,  uninfluenced  by  geo¬ 
graphical  latitude,  but  not  by  the  different  seasons  of  the  year, 
so  that  in  the  winter  both  the  maximum  and  the  minimum  in 
the  morning  and  evening,  are  nearer  at  noon  by  about  one  or 
two  hours  than  in  the  summer  season. 

The  barometrical  mean  of  every  month  in  the  year,  in  our 


[9] 


latitude,  declines  from  January  to  the  summer  months,  and 
advances  again  from  summer  to  winter.  This  will  he  seen  in 
our  tables,  after  subtracting  the  amount  of  the  force  of  vapor, 
or  the  amount  of  pressure  which  produced  the  free  moisture  in 
the  air  on  the  barometrical  volume,  and  shows  that  the  maximum 
falls  in  the  winter  and  the  minimum  in  the  summer. 

Monthly  mean  of  the  barometer,  after  subtracting  the  amount 
of  the  force  of  vapor,  or  the  monthly  mean  of  the  pressure  of 
the  dry  air,  at  our  place  : 

English  Inches. 


December  • 
January  • • 
February  • 
March  •  •  • 
April  •  •  •  • 

May . 

June . 

July . 

August  •  •  • 
September 
October  •  • 
November 


29.108 

29.126 

29.083 

29-004 

28.909 

28.833 

28.639 

28.602 

28.636 

28.769 

28.959 

29.037 


Finally,  there  are  irregular  barometrical  oscillations  at  the 
time  of  gales,  etc.,  or  caused  by  the  different  winds,  viz:  the 
stand  of  the  barometer  is  not  the  same  if  the  wind  blows  from 
the  north  or  from  the  south.  In  Europe,  the  highest  stand  of 
the  barometer  is  generally  with  northeast  winds,  and  the  low¬ 
est  with  southwest  winds ;  while  in  this  country  the  maxi¬ 
mum  takes  place  when  the  wind  blows  from  the  northwest, 
and  the  minimum  when  it .  blows  from  the  southeast ;  or, 
what  is  the  same  for  both  hemispheres,  its  maximum  is  caused 
by  the  coldest,  and  its  minimum  by  the  warmest  wind.  These 
irregular  oscillations  are  greater  in  winter  than  in  summer ;  also 
greater  in  cold  countries  than  in  warmer  ones,  or,  in  other  words, 
they  increase  with  the  increased  distance  from  the  equator,  with 
some  exceptions.  All  these  oscillations  of  the  barometer  can  be 
explained  by  the  fact  that  the  barometer  shows  the  diff’erence  of 


[10] 

the  temperature  of  different  parts  of  the  country,  and  only  in 
this  manner  can  they  afford  an  explanation. 

When  the  mercury  column  of  the  barometer  in  one  part  of  the 
country  declines,  it  is  in  consequence  of  the  increasing  warmth 
in  this  part,  in  opposition  to  the  surrounding  part;  the  place 
itself  may  be  warmed,  or  the  surrounding  part  may  grow  cold. 
If  the  barometer  should  rise  at  the  place,  it  is  an  evidence  of  its 
being  colder  than  the  surrounding  parts. 

Thus  then,  the  declining  of  the  barometer  is  accompanied  by 
warm  winds,  and  the  increasing  accompanied  by  cold  winds ;  con¬ 
sequently,  the  thermometer  increases  when  the  barometer  declines, 
and  declines,  when  the  barometer  increases.  Though  it  is  gener¬ 
ally  true  that  a  high  stand  of  the  barometer  indicates  clear  and 
fair  weather,  and  a  low  stand  rain  weather,  yet  a  person  would 
be  often  deceived  by  trusting  to  his  barometer  for  an  indication 
of  the  weather.  More  dependence  can  be  placed  on  this  instru¬ 
ment  in  regard  alluded  to,  at  such  places  where  warm  winds  at 
the  same  time  are  rain  winds.  At  our  place,  the  warm  southeast 
wind  is  the  rain  wind,  the  cold  northwest  wind  the  dry  ones  which 
caused  fair  weather,  and  the  barometer  inclines  by  southeast  and 
arises  with  northwest  wind.  But  at  the  mouth  of  the  La  Plata 
river,  the  southeast  wind  is  the  colder  wind,  which  raises  the 
barometrical  column,  though  it  is  the  rain  wind,  and  the  north¬ 
east  wind  is  the  warm  wind,  which  inclines  the  barometer,  though 
it  is  the  wind  which  caused  fair  weather. 

TEMPERATURE. 

The  temperature  has  also  its  variations,  especially  in  our  lati¬ 
tude — as  well  daily  as  yearly.  Of  daily  variations  we  find  one 
generally  in  the  morning,  just  before  sunrise,  and  the  other 
some  hours  after  noontime — in  the  summer  later  than  in  the 
winter;  so  that  just  before,  or  about  sunrise,  the  minimum  takes 
place,  and  some  hours  after  noon  the  maximum.  The  explana¬ 
tion  of  this  fact  is  as  follows :  Before  noon,  when  the  sun  rises 
higher  and  higher,  the  surface  of  the  earth  receives  more  warmth 
than  is  lost  by  radiation,  consequently  its  temperature  and  the 
temperature  of  the  atmosphere  must  experience  an  increase  of 


[11] 

heat,  and  this  will  he  still  the  case  for  some  hours  after  noon. 
When  the  sunset  approaches  nearer  and  nearer ;  the  rays  of  the 
sun  have  at  this  time  not  the  same  effect,  and  the  warmed  earth 
will  lose  more  warmth  than  the  sun’s  rays  can  supply.  This 
cooling  continues  after  sunset,  till  the  morning-glory  indicates 
the  reappearance  of  the  sun.  The  arising  of  clouds,  and  a 
change  of  winds,  etc.,  may,  however,  produce  a  change  in  my 
stated  positions  ;  it  is  therefore  necessary  to  make  as  many  obser¬ 
vations  as  possible,  in  order  to  find  the  law  in  regard  to  the  daily 
variations  of  the  temperature  at  different  places. 

To  determine  the  mean  temperature  of  every  day,  many  ways 
are  resorted  to,  because  an  hourly  observation,  which  would  give 
the  correct  one,  is  too  troublesome.  The  extremes  are  used  for 
this  purpose ;  observations  four  times  daily,  three  times  daily,  at 
different  hours,  etc.,  and  at  present  mostly  three  times,  at  six  or 
seven  A.  M.,  two  P.  M.,  and  nine  or  ten  P.  M.,  are  the  hours  of 
observation,  because  these  hours  give  the  nearest  mean  in 
comparison  to  the  mean  given  by  hourly  observations.  The 
mean  temperature  of  the  days,  divided  by  the  number  of  days, 
gives  the  mean  of  the  month,  and  the  arithmetical  mean  of  the 
twelve  months  of  the  year,  gives  the  mean  temperature  of  the  year. 

While  the  mean  temperature  of  the  year  at  one  place  does  not 
change  much,  the  variation  of  the  mean  temperature  of  the  same 
month  in  different  years  is  often  very  changeable.  But  more 
changeable  is  the  mean  temperature  of  one  day  in  different  years. 

The  month  of  July  is,  in  our  latitude,  generally  the  warmest, 
and  January  the  coldest  month.  At  the  mean  time  of  January 
the  temperature  generally  increases  very  slow,  with  more  rapid¬ 
ity  in  April  and  May,  then  more  slowly  again  to  the  mean  time  of 
July,  when  it  begins  to  decline  very  slowly  in  August,  much  more 
in  September  and  October,  and  falls  again  in  January  to  its  mini¬ 
mum.  This  state  of  things  depends,  as  may  be  easily  seen,  on 
the  rising  of  the  sun,  nearly  in  the  same  way  as  by  the  daily 
variation  above  alluded  to.  The  ranges  between  the  monthly 
extremes  increase  from  July  to  January,  and  decline  again  to 
July. 

Important  variations  of  the  yearly  normal  state  of  the  tem¬ 
perature  are  never  local,  but  ever  extended  over  a  great  part  of 


[12] 

the  country,  and  this  will  he  also  the  case  in  this  so  very  severe 
winter  of  1856. 

I  exhibit  below  a  statement  to  show  that  the  mean  tempera¬ 
ture  of  the  year  at  different  places  in  the  same  latitude  is  not 
always  the  same ;  and  have  to  notice  that  it  is  also  in  regard  to 
the  different  reasons. 

Longitude  Mean  tempera- 

Place.  Latitude.  of  Paris.  ture  of  the  year. 

Fort  Snelling . 44°  53'  N. . 95°  28'  W..  •  -43.88  Fahr. 

Sevastopol . 44°  36'  N. . 31°  12'  E.  •  •  -52.70  “ 

Council  Bluffs . 41°  25'  N. . 98°  03'  W.  •  •  -  49.46  “ 

Constantinople . 41°  00'  N. . 26°  39'  E.  -  -  -56.66  “ 

G-ermantown . 39°  30'  N. . 86°  36'  W.  •  -  -51.44  “ 

Madrid . 40°  25'  N. .  6°  02'  W.  -  -  -  57.56  “ 

Lines  drawn  on  our  globe  for  uniting  the  places  which  have  the 
same  mean  temperature  of  the  year,  are  called  by  Humboldt, 
Isothermes ;  the  lines  ■which  unite  the  places  with  the  same 
mean  temperature  of  the  winter,  Isochimenes,  and  the  lines 
which  unite  the  places  with  the  same  mean  temperature  of  the 
summer,  Isotheres. 

The  warmth  equator,  or  the  line  which  is  obtained  on  the  globe 
by  the  union  of  all  the  places  of  greatest  heat,  does  not  coincide 
with  the  earth  equator ;  therefore  it  is  not  always  the  warmest 
place  which  is  situated  on  the  earth  equator.  On  the  earth’s  equa¬ 
tor  the  mean  temperature  of  the  seashore  is  81.50°  Fahr.,  and  on 
the  western  shore  of  i\merica  and  Africa,  a  little  less.  In  the 
interior  of  both  continents,  especially  in  Africa,  the  mean  tem¬ 
perature  is  higher  than  on  the  shore;  it  even  reached  in  the 
interior  above  84°  Fahr. 

The  northern  isothermal  line  of  77°  Fahr.  travels  from  Vera 
Cruz  to  the  southern  part  of  Florida,  rises  a  little  to  the  north 
and  inclines  again  to  the  western  shore  of  Africa.  In  Africa,  it 
again  experiences  an  elevation,  travels  through  the  northern  part 
of  the  Ked  sea,  mounts  again  to  the  north  in  Asia,  and  inclines 
to  the  Pacific  ocean,  to  mount  again  near  the  western  shore  of 
America.  The  line  of  New  York,  or  the  isothermal  line  of  50 
degrees  Fahr.,  runs  in  the  Atlantic  ocean  up  to  the  north,  near 


[13] 


England,  to  56^  of  northern  latitude ;  inclines  in  Europe  and 
Asia,  mounts  again  near  the  western  coast  of  America,  and 
inclines  a  little  in  the  interior,  to  reach  New  York  again. 

The  extremes  which  fell  under  my  observation  are  as  follows : 


Year. 

Maxima. 

Date, 

Minima 

Date. 

1851  .  . 

.  .94.32°  Fahr.. 

•  •  Sept.  11  •  • 

•—  7.37°  Fahr.. 

• -Jan. 

31 

1852  .  ■ 

••94.55  “  . 

•  -  July  23  •  . 

— 31.45  “  . 

•  -  Jan. 

20 

1853  .  . 

..97.47  “  . 

• -June  20- • 

— 14.12  “  . 

..Feb. 

9 

1854  . . 

■  99.72  “  . 

•  •  Sept.  4  •  • 

—  9.62  . 

.  -  Jan. 

23 

1855  • . 

■  •93.42  “  . 

..July  19... 

—  1.97  “  . 

..Feb. 

26 

This  gives  a  mean,  for  the  maximum  of  95.89  degrees,  and 
for  the  minimum,  — 12.91  degrees  Eahr.,  which  may  happen 
every  year. 

WIND. 

Among  the  natural  agencies  which  are  at  work  to  disturb  the 
equilibrium  of  the  atmosphere,  and  to  give  rise  to  aerial  currents, 
the  difference  of  temperature  in  different  parts  of  the  earth  is 
most  important,  viz:  if  one  country  is  more  heated  than  the 
other,  we  find  in  the  upper  strata  of  the  atmosphere  a  wind 
which  blows  from  the  warmer  country  to  the  colder  one ;  and  on 
the  contrary,  at  the  surface  of  the  earth  a  wind  which  blows  from 
the  colder  to  the  warmer  country.  Franklin’s  experiment  of  a 
lighted  candle  at  the  open  door  of  a  heated  room,  clearly  demon¬ 
strates  this.  At  the  top  of  the  door  the  flame,  when  held  above, 
is  blown  from  the  room ;  when  placed  below,  near  the  ground,  it 
is  blown  into  the  room,  consequently  the  light,  warm  air  above 
rushes  out  of  the  heated  room,  and  is  replaced  by  heavier  and 
colder  air  from  below.  When  a  lighted  candle  is  placed  in  the 
middle  of  both,  the  flame  will  be  straight,  and  not  be  affected  by 
a  current  of  air.  And  the  same,  in  a  greater  measure,  occurs  on 
our  globe.  The  equator  forms  the  warm  room,  the  pole  a  cold 
one,  and  the  air  rushes  from  the  equator  to  the  poles,  and  from 
the  poles  to  the  equator,  but  not  direct,  on  account  of  the  rota¬ 
tion  of  the  earth;  that  at  the  surface,  coming  from  the  pole, 
takes  an  easterly  direction,  while  that  which  flows  above,  coming 
from  the  equator,  takes  a  westerly  course.  This  is  the  origin  of 
the  trade  winds  at  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  of  the  great 


[14] 

westerly  current  which  is  almost  constantly  moving  in  the  upper 
strata  over  the  middle  and  northern  portion  of  the  United  States, 
sinking  lower  and  lower.  All  other  directions  of  the  wind  are 
derived  from  these  primitive  directions,  southwest  and  northeast. 
Its  change  from  one  place  on  the  compass  to  another  is  generally 
from  south  to  southwest,  west  to  northwest,  north  to  northeast, 
east  to  southeast,  to  south  again.  But  the  turning  of  the  wdnd 
is  not  always  so  regular ;  sometimes  the  wind  turns  hack,  and 
this  takes  place  more  on  the  west  side  than  on  the  east  side  of 
the  compass. 

The  effect  is  remarkable  which  is  experienced  at  the  different 
times  of  the  day,  and  also  at  the  different  seasons,  upon  the  turn¬ 
ing  of  the  wind,  hut  this  is  more  the  case  at  the  seaboard  than 
in  the  interior  Of  the  country. 

It  has  been  most  satisfactorily  proven  by  Prof.  Coffin,  that 
southerly  winds  in  North  America  generally  are  much  more  com¬ 
mon  in  summer  than  in  winter,  and  that  to  this  wind  is  to  be 
ascribed  the  amazing  fertility  of  the  climate  for  sugar,  cotton, 
Indian  corn  and  tobacco. 

Gales  and  tornadoes  are  the  consequence  of  considerable  dis¬ 
turbances  in  the  equilibrium  of  the  atmosphere,  which  probably 
occur  by  condensation  of  the  vapor  in  the  air.  The  surrounding 
air  flows  rapidly  from  all  sides  to  the  place  of  the  rarified  air, 
while  the  minimum  of  the  pressure  of  the  air  moves  forward 
itself.  This  theory  is  adopted  by  Prof.  Espy.  Dove  calls  torna¬ 
does,  whirlwinds  which  are  progressive,  and  E.  Hare  calls  them 
electrical  whirlwinds,  under  the  same  condition. 

HUMIDITY  OF  THE  AIR. 

A  daily  variation  of  the  humidity  of  the  air,  which  occurs, 
depends  on  the  variation  of  the  temperature  of  the  day,  because 
by  an  increase  or  decrease  of  heat,  water  is  caused  more  or  less 
to  evaporate.  It  is  therefore  rational  to  suppose  that  the  humid¬ 
ity  of  the  air  will  increase  or  decrease  in  daytime  as  the  day  is 
growing  warm  or  growing  cold,  and  the  same  is  generally  the 
case  with  the  yearly  variation  of  the  humidity  of  the  air,  which 
increases,  like  the  mean  temperature,  from  January  to  July,  and 
decreases  from  July  to  January,  in  our  latitude. 


[15] 

If  in  summer  the  morning-glory  appears  with  an  increase  of 
temperature,  humidity  follows  till  nine  A.  M.  At  this  time,  a 
warm  ascending  air  column  carried  the  steam  to  the  upper  strata, 
and  consequently  the  humidity  of  the  lower  strata  diminished, 
though  by  increase  of  heat  the  formation  of  vapor  continues. 
This  diminution  will  continue  till  about  four  P.  M.,  at  which 
time  the  humidity  of  the  lower  strata  again  increases,  because 
now  the  ascending  air  column,  which  the  steam  has  carried  to  the 
upper  strata  exists  no  more ;  hut  this  continues  only  till  about 
nine  P.  M.,  because  at  this  time  the  temperature  gets  lower  and 
lower,  by  which  the  evaporation  more  and  more  ceases.  This 
shows  for  the  summer  two  maxima,  at  nine  A.  M.,  and  nine  P.  M., 
and  two  minima,  at  four  P.  M.,  and  about  sunrise.  This  process 
in  the  winter  season  is  more  singular.  The  effect  of  the  sun  is 
at  that  time  not  so  intense,  and  only  one  maximum  is  to  he 
observed,  at  two  P.  M.,  and  one  minimum,  at  the  time  when  the 
sun  rises  again.  The  vapor  ascends  in  the  winter  season  very 
regularly  till  the  afternoon,  about  two  P.  M.,  and  when  the  tem¬ 
perature  sinks,  the  vapor  will  he  partly  condensed  by  cooler 
objects,  and  the  humidity  diminished  till  morning.  If  the  cool¬ 
ing  of  the  air  is  occasioned  by  a  cold  solid  body,  the  vapor  is 
then  condensed  in  small  drops  of  water,  as  may  be  observed  on 
the  outside  of  a  cold  glass  when  brought  into  a  warm  room. 
The  temperature  which  occasions  this  is  called  the  dew-point,  sig¬ 
nifying  the  temperature  by  which  the  air  is  saturated  with  vapor. 

People  say  “  the  air  is  dry  when  the  water  rapidly  evapo¬ 
rates,  when  wet  objects  in  a  short  time  dry  in  the  air ;  and  on 
the  contrary,  “  the  air  is  wet,^^  when  wet  objects  dry  slowly,  or 
when  the  least  change  of  temperature,  being  cooler,  is  sufficient 
to  produce  wet  condensations.  In  this  manner  we  call  the  air 
dry  when  the  dew-point  is  far  off,  and  wet  when  it  is  near  the 
temperature  of  the  air.  But  by  this  we  can  form  no  judgment 
in  regard  to  the  absolute  humidity  of  the  air.  Por  instance, 
when  in  the  winter,  at  a  temperature  of  35  deg.  Fahr.,  the  air 
contains  in  a  closed  room  of  ten  square  feet  only  six  grains  of 
vapor,  the  air  will  he  called  very  wet,  not  only  because  wet 
objects  would  dry  in  them  very  slowly,  hut  also  because  the  air 
is  at  this  temperature,  and  at  that  amount  of  vapor,  nearly 


[16] 

saturated,  the  least  change  of  temperature,  being  cooler,  would 
he  sufficient  to  produce  wet  condensations,  although  the^  absolute 
quantity  of  vapor  is  very  small.  If  the  same  room,  at  a  tem¬ 
perature  of  77  deg.  Fahr.,  contains  thirteen  grains  of  vapor,  we 
would  call  the  air  very  dry,  not  only  because  wet  objects  would 
dry  in  it  in  a  short  time,  hut  also  because  at  this  temperature 
the  air  would  contain  twenty-three  grains  of  vapor  before  being 
saturated,  or  the  air  must  he  cooled,  for  its  saturation,  to  about 
59  deg.  Fahr. 

The  same  case  is  with  the  relative  humidity,  which  shows 
nothing  else  than  a  per  centage  of  humidity  at  a  fixed  tempera¬ 
ture  ;  hut  to  say  nothing  about  that,  what  would  he  the  per  centage 
when  the  air  would  he  heated  or  cooled.  The  lower  the  temper¬ 
ature  of  the  air,  the  sooner  it  is  saturated,  and  this  is  the  reason 
why  the  relative  humidity  increases  when  winter  approaches,  and 
decreases  toward  summer,  or  why  its  maximum  occurs  about  at 
the  time  of  sunrise  and  its  minimum  at  noon. 

Our  tables  show  the  least  per  centage  of  the  humidity  in  the 
spring ;  in  April  it  reaches  its  minimum,  and  increases  till 
December,  reaching  its  maximum,  and  only  in  one  year  the  rela¬ 
tive  humidity  reached  its  maximum  in  January,  and  its  minimum 
in  June.  This  irregularity  alluded  to  seems  to  me  very  remark¬ 
able.  On  the  contrary,  the  absolute  humidity,  or  the  force  or 
pressure  of  vapor  increases,  according  to  the  law,  exactly  like 
the  mean  temperature  ;  in  the  month  of  January  showing  the 
minimum,  increasing  till  July  to  its  maximum,  and  decreasing 
till  January. 

DEW. 

It  is  observed  that  when  the  surface  of  the  earth  was  heated 
by  the  rays  of  the  sun,  the  air  became  heated  ;  hence,  during  the 
day  the  lower  strata  will  always  he  warmer  than  the  upper  ones. 
But  a  change  takes  place  after  sunset.  The  earth  continues  to 
radiate  heat  without  receiving  any  in  exchange,  and  its  tempera¬ 
ture  consequently  diminishes,  often  to  two,  three,  sometimes  seven 
and  eight  degrees  below  the  temperature  of  the  air.  Neither 
does  the  air  so  readily  part  with  its  heat,  and  therefore  it  attains 
during  the  night  a  higher  temperature  than  the  surface  of  the 
earth ;  it  is  only  cooled  where  it  comes  in  contact  with  the  colder 


earth.  If  this  cooling  by  radiation  should  reach  the  dew-point 
of  the  air,  then  the  vapor  is  condensed  on  tlie  cooler  soil  orj’ege- 
tation  in  the  form  of  small  drops.  If  the  temperature  of  the 
earth  sinks  in  the  night  to  the  freezing  point,  or  below  it,  the 
aqueous  vapor  is  deposited  in  a  solid  form,  which  is  called  frozen 
dew,  or  white  frost.  In  clear  and  serene  nights  the  radiation  of 
heat  from  the  earth  is  the  greatest,  and  dew  takes  place ;  but  it 
is  obstructed  by  clouds  and  wind. 

FOG  AND  CLOUDS. 

Fogs  rise,  generally,  if  the  water  of  lakes,  rivers,  or  the  wet 
soil  is  warmer  than  the  air,  which  is  saturated  with  aqueous 
vapor.  The  vapor  which  arises  from  the  water,  etc.,  is  condensed 
again  when  it  enters  the  colder  air,  which  is  already  saturated 
with  water.  This  is  the  reason  why  fogs  mostly  arise  in  the  fall 
above  rivers,  lakes,  and  wet  soil.  Fog  often  arises  in  summer, 
after  thunder  storms,  above  rivers,  etc.,  the  air  being  warmer 
than  the  surface  of  the  water.  The  air  is  saturated  with  aque¬ 
ous  vapor,  and  it  will  be  condensed  by  the  cooler  water  of  th# 
river,  etc.  However,  fogs  will  not  only  arise  above  lakes  and 
rivers,  but  also  in  the  interior  of  the  country ;  and  this  will  be 
the  case  when  warm  and  wet  air  becomes  mixed  with  cooler  air, 
so  that  its  temperature  sinks  below  the  dew-point. 

Clouds  are  nothing  else  but  fogs  which  are  suspended  in  the 
upper  strata  of  the  air,  as  fog  is  nothing  else  than  clouds  near 
the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  consists  of  small  blisters,  fog-blis¬ 
ters,  which  may  be  partly  filled  with  water,  partly  hollow,  con¬ 
taining  uncondensed  vapor.  The  appearance  of  the  clouds  is 
according  to  their  lower  or  higher  suspension,  according  to  their 
possessing  more  or  less  density,  and  their  illumination  by  the 
rays  of  the  sun,  etc.,  and  therefore  very  manifold.  The  forms 
of  the  clouds  are  called,  in  the  terminology  of  Howard,  as 
follows : 

1.  The  cirrus,  or  curl-cloud,  is  composed  of  loose  filaments,  the 
whole  of  which  sometimes  resembles  a  pencil,  sometimes  curly 
hair,  sometimes  a  fine  net,  or  a  spider  web.  They  are  the  high¬ 
est  clouds  in  our  atmosphere,  (often  20,000  feet  high),  consisting 
of  snow  parts,  even  in  summer,  and  subject  to  southerly  winds. 

2 


[18J 

2.  The  cumulus,  or  summer-cloud,  or  starkeii-cloud,  shows 
itself  often  under  the  form  of  a  hemisphere  resting  on  a  horizon¬ 
tal  hase.  Sometimes  these  half  spheres  are  piled  upon  one 
another,  forming  those  large  accumulated  clouds  in  the  horizon 
which  resemble,  at  a  distance,  mountains  covered  with  snow. 
They  appear  frequently  in  summer,  and  arise  from  ascending 
air  columns.  The  number  and  magnitude,  also  partly  the 
density  of  these  clouds,  generally  increase  till  the  time  of  the 
highest  warmth  of  the  day,  and  decrease  again  till  sunset 
At  the  same  time,  changes  take  place  in  the  hight  of  these 
clouds,  its  minimum  being  in  the  morning,  its  maximum  in  the 
afternoon,  and  its  sinking  again  toward  the  evening. 

3.  The  stratus,  or  fall-cloud,  is  a  horizontal  hand,  which  is 
formed  at  sunset  and  disappears  at  sunrise.  Besides  these  three 
principal  forms,  to  which  four  transition  forms  belong,  namely, 
the  cirro-cumulus,  or  sonder-cloud,  the  cirro-stratus,  or  wane- 
cloud,  the  cumulo-stratus,  or  twain-cloud,  and  the  nimbus,  or  rain- 
cloud,  are  several  intermediate  forms  to  which  it  is  difficult  to 
assign  a  name,  and  it  may  only  he  said  that  the  nimbus,  this 
well  known  cloud,  is  distinguished  by  its  uniform  grey  tint,  its 
fringe  and  indistinct  edges. 


RAIN,  SNOW  AND  HAIL. 

Rain  falls  if  the  temperature  suddenly  sinks,  when  the  small 
fog-blisters  of  the  clouds  run  together,  when  the  velocity  of  the 
falling  increases,  and  drops  reach  the  earth.  If  the  tempera¬ 
ture  of  the  air  in  the  winter  season  reaches  near  to  the  freezing 
point,  or  below  it,  snow  falls;  and  in  the  spring  and  autumn 
often  what  is  called  sleet,  consisting  of  small  halls  of  snow,  which 
are  white  and  opaque,  commonly  without  a  crust  of  ice.  These 
forms  are  to  be  distinguished  from  frozen  rain  drops ;  they  are 
formed  of  little  halls  of  transparent  ice,  and  arise  generally 
in  the  winter  or  spring.  Of  the  formation  of  snow  and  sleet, 
little  is  yet  known,  hut  the  surmise  is,  that  probably  in  that  cloud 
which  gives  snow  and  sleet  the  snow  is  preexisting,  in  small  crys¬ 
tals,  which  are  growing  by  condensation  of  vapor  from  the  sur¬ 
rounding  air,  till  snow-flakes  or  sleet  falls  down. 


[19] 

Frozen  rain  drops  appear  if  cold  weather  exists  and  a  wet  south 
wind  warms  the  upper  strata ;  rain-drops  form  themselves,  and 
freeze  while  descending  to  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  on  com¬ 
ing  in  contact  with  the  cold  strata.  Hail — hailstones  are  balls 
of  transparent  ice  in  their  midst,  with  a  nucleus  of  snow  parts. 
It  falls  mostly  at  the  time  of  the  greatest  heat  of  the  day,  or  a 
little  afterward ;  generally,  also,  more  in  summer  than  in  any 
other  season,  hut  there  is  a  dilGPerence  at  difiPerent  places. 

There  are  many  theories  in  regard  to  the  formation  of  hail, 
but  all  are  poor.  Volta^s  theory  may  be  the  plainest.  He  says, 
there  are  two  strata  of  clouds,  above  one  another ;  the  sun’s  rays 
are  absorbed  by  the  upper  strata  of  dense  clouds,  which  conse¬ 
quently  causes  a  sudden  evaporation,  and  this  evaporation  in  the 
upper  strata  takes  so  much  warmth  to  freeze  the  water  in  the 
lower  ones,  and  the  hail  forms  itself,  even  in  hot  summer  time. 
The  hailstones  just  formed  are  of  very  small  size,  falling  upon 
the  lower  strata  of  clouds,  where  it  takes  by  condensation  of  its 
cold  body  more  water  to  build  there  a  new  strata  of  transparent 
ice  all  over.  But  this  cloud  is  loaded  with  another  electricity 
than  the  first,  which  gave  rise  to  the  hail ;  the  hailstone  takes 
now,  not  alone  water  from  this  cloud,  but  also  electricity,  and  if 
both  are  about  equally  electrified,  the  cloud  repels  the  hailstones 
to  the  upper  cloud  again ;  the  upper  cloud  sends,  after  a  while, 
the  hailstones  loaded  with  ice  and  the  electricity,  back  to  the 
lower  cloud,  and  this  play  will  be  repeated  as  much  as  possible 
by  the  power  of  the  electrified  clouds,  until  the  weight  of  the 
hailstone  produces  its  downfall. 

This  theory  seems  to  afford  a  plausible  explanation,  but  we 
ask,  how  comes  it  that,  if  the  evaporation  in  the  upper  strata 
of  the  clouds  is  caused  by  the  warmth  of  the  rays  of  the  sun, 
this  evaporation  should  deprive  the  strata  of  lower  clouds  of  so 
much  warmth,  as  to  form  so  much  ice  or  hailstones,  even  in  hot 
weather  ?  And  further,  how  is  it  possible  for  electricity  to  move 
such  an  enormous  mass  of  hailstones  from  one  cloud  to  another 
without  an  electrical  discharge  ? 

The  quantity  of  rain  which  falls  in  one  year  on  one  Paris 
square  foot  (the  largeness  of  my  ombrometer)  amounts  generally^ 


[20] 


in  my  place  of  observation,  to 


4957.31  Paris  square  inches, 


And  the  quantity  of  snow  which  falls 
on  the  same  plane  amounts,  gen¬ 
erally,  if  molten,  to . 


357.17  Paris  square  inches. 


Making 


5314.48  Paris  square  inches. 


This  gives  a  perpendicular  depth  of  rain  and  melted  snow  of 

36.944  Paris  inches,  or  38.878  English  inches,  as  the  mean  of 

five  years’  observations. 

From  the  above  quantity  of  rain,  etc.,  the 
winter  generally  claims  999.12  Paris 
square  inches  of  rain,  and  273.26  Paris 

square  inches  of  melted  snow,  making  , 

1272.38  Paris  square  inches;  or  a  per- 

pendicular  depth  of  rain  and  melted 

snow  of  8.876  Paris  inches,  or .  9.462  English  inches. 

The  Spring  generally  claims  1419.41  Paris 
square  inches  of  rain,  and  36.09  Paris 
square  inches  of  melted  snow,  making 
1455.50  Paris  square  inches,  or  a  perpen¬ 
dicular  depth  of  rain  and  melted  snow  of 
10.091  Paris  inches,  or . 10.757  English  inches. 

The  summer  generally  claims  1354.37 
Paris  square  inches  of  rain,  or  a  perpen¬ 
dicular  depth  of  rain  of  9.408  Paris 
inches,  or . 10.029  English  inches. 

The  Autumn  claims,  generally,  1120.46 
Paris  square  inches  of  rain,  and  47.82 
Paris  square  inches  of  melted  snow, 
making  1168.28  Paris  square  inches,  or 
a  perpendicular  depth  of  rain  and  melted 
snow  of  8.096  Paris  inches,  or .  8.630  English  inches. 


[21] 


THUNDER  STORMS. 

If  common  water  (not  pure  distilled  water)  evaporates,  the 
steam  shows  positive  electricity,  and  the  vessel  from  which  the 
steam  ascends  negative  electricity.  Consequently,  the  steam 
which  arises  from  the  ground,  earth,  etc.,  reaches  the  sky  with 
positive  electricity,  and  the  earth  retains  negative  electricity. 
The  same  evolution  of  electricity  takes  place  hy  the  combustion 
of  vegetables :  the  smoke  arises  with  positive  electricity,  and  the 
vessel  in  which  the  combustion  takes  place  keeps  the  negative 
electricity.  These  and  many  other  processes  are  the  causes  of 
positive  electricity  of  the  air,  and  the  negative  of  the  earth. 

If  the  vapor  of  clouds  is  rapidly  condensed  to  rain,  and  elec¬ 
tricity  enough  arises  by  the  process  to  form  a  spark,  lightning 
.will  be  seen,  and,  after  this,  the  thunder  be  heard.  The  thunder 
is  heard  after  the  lightning  has  been  seen,  because  the  lightning 
is  seen  at  about  the  same  moment  as  it  is  formed,  but  the  sound 
of  the  thunder  takes  one  second  to  run  through  a  room  of  about 
1,000  feet. 

The  lightning  is  formed  exactly  like  the  electrical  spark  on 
our  electrifying  machines,  and  generally  moves  in  the  direction 
from  the  cloud  to  the  earth.  By  this,  the  air  is  forcibly  driven 
from  its  place,  and  after  the  lightning  is  past,  the  air  claps 
together  with  so  much  force  as  to  produce  the  thunder,  about  in 
the  same  way  as  the  sound  which  will  be  heard  if  a  pen-case  is 
opened  in  a  hurry,  so  that  the  air  of  the  inside  is  expanded  for  a 
moment  and  claps  together  again  when  it  opens. 

Thunder  storms  are  divided  in  two  classes,  because  they  form 
themselves,  either  chiefly  in  consequence  of  an  ascending  air 
column,  or  accompany  the  conflict  which  exists  between  opposite 
winds.  The  first  one  generally  appears  in  warm  seasons,  and  the 
latter  one  in  winter  time. 

If  in  summer,  on  a  fair  day,  the  wind  is  near  calm,  air  columns 
ascend  from  the  earth  very  rapidly  to  the  upper  strata  of  the  air, 
increasing  the  body  of  the  cirri,  or  curl  clouds,  which  move  there 
with  southerly  winds.  x\t  the  same  time,  in  the  lower  strata, 
cumuli  or  summer  clouds  rise,  and  and  the  temperature  near  the 


[22] 

surface  of  the  earth  decreases.  Dense  clouds  being  formed,  a 
warm  wind  will  blow  against  these  clouds ;  while  on  the  surface  of 
the  earth  cold  air  streams,  below  these  clouds,  flow  to  all  sides, 
condensing  the  vapor  very  rapidly,  and  evolving  so  much  electricity 
by  their  power  as  to  cause  a  thunder  storm. 

At  the  time  of  thunder  storms,  the  barometer  generally 
declines,  which  shows  a  southerly  course  of  wind  in  the  upper 
strata  of  the  air,  and  the  clouds  which  form  there  are  moved  by 
that  southerly  wind.  This  is  the  reason  why  our  thunder  storms 
generally  move  with  southerly  winds. 

In  the  winter  season,  therefore,  storms  commonly  arise  if  a 
strong  southerly  wind  comes  in  conflict  with  a  very  strong 
northerly  wind,  and  the  air,  at  the  same  time,  contains  vapor 
enough  for  evolving  more  electricity,  than  is  generally  possible 
at  this  season. 

Heat  lightnings  show  themselves,  especially  in  the  evening,  if 
thunder  clouds  are  near  the  horizon,  and  so  far  off  that  the  sound 
of  the  thunder  can  not  reach  our  ear.  The  clouds  of  remote 
thunder  storms  are  even,  sometimes,  below  the  horizon,  and  the 
lightnings  are  only  seen  by  reflection  of  the  sky. 

HAZE,  OR  DRY  MIST. 

The  transparency  of  the  air,  especially  in  the  fall  and  spring, 
is  often  disturbed  by  a  kind  of  vapor,  which  gives  a  dirty  color  to 
the  sky,  and  dims  the  rays  of  the  sun.  The  sun  approaching 
the  horizon  appears  to  be  blood-red,  and  looking  right  into  his 
face  will  not  hurt  the  eye,  as  it  docs  at  other  times,  his  light 
being  so  faint  that  his  orb  is  not  to  be  distinguished,  even  when 
he  has  not  yet  approached  the  horizon. 

This  phenomenon,  known  in  Europe  under  the  names  Hoehe- 
rauch,  and  Moorrauch,  appears  frequently  after  long  droughts,  and 
seems  to  characterize  what,  in  this  country,  is  called  the  Indian 
summer.  Both  phenomena  undoubtedly  owe  their  origin  to  the 
same  cause — the  combustion  of  vegetable  matter.  In  Europe,  it 
is  caused  by  imperfect  combustion  of  peat  and  heath,  and  in  this 
country,  by  a  more  perfect  combustion  of  corn-stalks,  prairie-grass 
and  wood.  This  seems  to  be  the  only  difference  between  the  two 


[23] 

phenomena,  and  it  may  he  added,  that  in  the  central  parts  of 
Germany  the  smoke  arises  in  the  months  of  May  and  June  with 
northerly  winds,  whereas,  in  this  country,  during  the  Spring  and 
Fajl  seasons,  with  southerly  wind. 

An  opinion  is  prevalent,  in  Germany,  that  dry  mist  exercises  a 
great  influence  on  the  weather,  being  the  cause  of  the  then  pre¬ 
vailing  northern  wind,  driving  away  rain  and  thunder-storms, 
and  causing  cold.  All  this  seems  to  he  at  the  time  of  the  appear¬ 
ance  of  dry  mist  in  Germany ;  hut  it  is  only  the  northern  wind, 
in  May  and  June,  generally  prevailing  then,  which  causes  that 
dry  and  cold  weather,  and  nothing  else.  In  this  country,  the 
smoke  comes  with  southern  winds,  causing  neither  cold,  nor  dry¬ 
ness,  nor  driving  away  thunder-storms  ;  on  the  contrary,  the 
mean  temperature  of  days  on  which  dry  mist  prevails  exceeds 
that  of  the  month,  rain  generally  succeeding  dry  mist ;  and  at 
the  time  of  dense  dry  mist,  I  noticed  thunder-storms. 

The  question  then  arises,  hy  what  is  our  climate  distinguished, 
and  what  is  the  character  of  its  seasons  ? 

The  tables  show  for  themselves ;  the  plates  likewise,  in  a 
graphical  point  of  view  ;  and  it  remains  only  necessary,  after  some 
remarks  in  respect  to  its  peculiarity,  to  offer  a  comparison  between 
our  climate  and  that  of  other  places.  (For  which  purpose  is  given 
the  Table  vii,  for  comparison  with  HumboldFs  Asia  Centrale). 

In  regard  to  the  temperature,  our  climate  presents  remarkable 
data,  not  only  in  reference  to  the  great  range  which  exists 
between  the  daily,  monthly  and  yearly  extremes  that  occur,  but 
also  with  respect  to  the  range  which  exists  between  the  mean 
temperature  of  the  coldest  and  the  warmest  month  and  the 
coldest  and  warmest  day  in  the  same  year. 

It  is  maintained  that  these  extremes  arise  far  off  from  the 
equator.  The  range  between  the  mean  temperature  of  the 
warmest  and  coldest  month  in  Gibraltar  (36°  7'  N.  latitude) 
amounted  to  17.64°  Fahr.;  in  Lisbon  (38°  42'  E.  latitude),  19.96° 
Fahr.,  and  of  St.  Petersburgh  (59°  56'  N.  latitude),  48.96°  Fahr., 
all  according  to  this  law  ;  but  in  Germantown  (39°  30'  N.  lati- 
tude)^  45.36°  Fahr.,  although  it  should,  by  the  same  comparison, 
be  not  more  than  20°  or  25°  Fahr.  Further,  the  range  between 


[24] 

the  mean  temperature  of  the  coldest  and  warmest  day  in  the 
same  year  amounts  to  83°  Fahr.,  and  the  range  between  the 
maximum  and  minimum,  which  occurred  in  the  year,  to  109° 
Fahr.,  and  these  great  ranges  confer  the  chief  character  of  the 
climate  in  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States  of  the  Union,  as  a  re¬ 
markable  peculiarity.  The  climate  of  the  Far  West — Califor¬ 
nia — forms  an  exception,  it  being  distinguished  by  its  regularity. 
In  San  Francisco,  the  range  between  the  mean  temperature  of  the 
coldest  and  warmest  month  is  only  13°  Fahr.,  and  the  range 
between  the  maximum  and  minimum  of  temperature,  which  occur 
yearly,  not  more  than  54°  Fahr. 

Further,  the  mean  temperature  of  the  different  months  in¬ 
creased  from  January  to  July,  and  declined  from  July  to  Janu¬ 
ary,  at  my  place  of  observation,  in  the  following  remarkable 
manner : 


It  increased  from  January  to  February .  3.37°  Fahr. 

Do.  February  to  March .  8.02  “ 

Do.  March  to  April . 10.71  “ 

Do.  April  to  May . 10.98  “ 

Do.  May  to  June .  7.56  “ 

Do.  June  to  July .  4.63  “ 

And  declined  from  July  to  August . . .  2.65  “ 

Do.  August  to  September .  5.51  “ 

Do.  September  to  October . 14.61  “ 

Do.  October  to  November . 10.78  “ 

Do.  November  to  December .  9.77  “ 

Do.  December  to  January .  1.94  “ 


This  sudden  rapid  increase  and  decline  in  spring  and  fall, 
indicated  a  climate  with  very different  seasons,  and  in  fact 
our  summer  is  nearly  a  tropical  one,  and  our  winter  sometimes  a 
Eussian  winter.  It  is  not  necessary  to  travel  abroad,  visiting- 
other  countries  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  climatic  changes ; 
every  season  here  offers  a  simile  of  foreign  countries. 

WINTEE. 

While  the  mean  temperature  of  the  year  is  conformed,  with 
the  yearly  mean  temperature  of  Paris,  capital  of  France,  the 


[  25  ] 

mean  temperature  of  the  winter  conforms  with  the  winter  of 
Berlin,  capital  of  Prussia;  and  especially,  the  winter  of  1850- 
’ol  conformed  in  the  mean  temperature  with  the  winter  of 
Geneva,  46°  12'  N.  latitude. 


1851- ^52  with  the  winter  of  Warsaw . 52°  13'  N.  lat. 

1852- ^53  “  “  Gottingen . 52  13  “ 

1853- ’54  “  “  Augsburg . 48  22  “ 


1854-^55  “  “  Warsaw  again. 

Besides  this,  the  winter  is  distinguished  from  all  the  other 
seasons  by  its  greatest  range  of  atmospherical  pressure,  and  in 
regard  to  sudden  changes  in  the  mean  temperature  from  one  day 
to  the  next.  I  have  noticed  ranges  between  the  mean  tempera¬ 
ture  of  two  succeeding  days  of  33  degrees  Fahr.  January  2d, 
1854,  the  mean  temperature  of  the  day  was  13.32  deg.  Fahr., 
and  January  3d,  the  mean  temperature  was  45.05  deg.  Fahr. 

The  winter  shows,  further,  the  greatest  relative  and  the  least 
positive  humidity,  according  to  the  law  alluded  to,  and  a  quan¬ 
tity  of  rain  and  melted  suow,  which  is  generally  a  little  more 
than  in  the  fall,  hut  less  than  in  the  spring  and  summer.  In 
the  afternoon,  at  2  P.  M.,  the  air  is  generally  10  degrees  Fahr. 
warmer  than  in  the.  morning,  and  7  degrees  than  in  the  evening. 

SPRING. 

The  mean  temperature  generally  conforms  to  the  mean  tem¬ 
perature  of  the  spring  of  La  Kochelle,  in  France,  (46°  09'  N. 
latitude.)  Especially,  the  spring  of  1851  conformed  with  that  of 
Constantinople,  41°  N.  latitude. 


1852  conformed  with  that  of  Triers . 49°  46'  N.  lat. 

1853  “  “  Paris . 48  50  “ 

1854  “  “  Constantinople  again. 

1855  “  Vienna . 48  13  “ 

The  spring  is  remarkable  for  its  uniform  mean  temperature, 


and  its  greatest  range  of  thermometer,  its  sudden  increasing 


[26] 

warmth,  the  greatest  quantity  of  rain,  and  the  least  relative 
humidity. 

The  periods  of  last  frozen  dew  and  the  last  snow  in  the  dif¬ 
ferent  years  were  as  follows : 


1851,  last  frozen  dew.  May  7  ;  last  snow,  March'  9. 


1852, 

1853, 

1854, 

1855, 


“  May  21  ; 
“  May  20; 
“  April  18; 
“  May  11  ; 


April  1. 
March  23. 
April  29. 
March  28. 


In  the  afternoon,  at  2  P.  M.,  the  air  is  generally  14  degrees 
Fahr.  warmer  than  in  the  morning,  and  11  degrees  than  in  the 
evening. 

SUMMER. 

While  our  winters  conform  to  the  winter  of  places  in  Europe 
in  50°  N.  latitude,  and  our  springs  with  the  springs  of  the  same 
country  in  45°  N.  latitude,  our  summer  approaches  more  or  less 
the  summer  in  Europe  in  the  same  latitude.  The  mean  temper¬ 
ature  of  our  summer  generally  conforms  with  the  summer  of 
Padua,  Italy.  Especially  the  summer  of  1851  was  conformed 
with  the  summer  of  Sevastopol,  44°  36'. 


1852  with  the  summer  of  Vienna . 48°  13'  N.  lat. 

1853  “  “  Constantinople . 41  00  “ 

1854  “  “  Naples . 40  51 

“  “  Algiers . 36  47  “ 

Las  Palmas . 28  00  “ 

1855  “  “  Lisbon . 38  42  “ 


Besides  this,  the  summer  is  distinguished  by  the  least  range 
between  the  extremes  of  the  barometer  and  thermometer,  its 
greatest  amount  of  absolute  humidity,  the  least  cloudiness,  and 
the  most  thunder  storms.  At  2  P.  M.  the  air  is  generally  15 
degrees  Fahr.  warmer  than  in  the  morning,  and  13  degrees  than 
in  the  evening. 


[27] 


AUTUMN. 

Our  autumn  brings  us  back  in  the  northern  latitude  of  44 
and  51  deg.  Its  mean  temperature  is  about  conformed  with  that 
of  our  spring,  but  the  whole  season  is  made  more  pleasant  by  its 
fair  days  and  less  rain,  although  its  relative  humidity  is  much 
greater  than  in  the  spring.  Its  sudden  declining  in  tempera¬ 
ture,  from  month  to  month,  is  not  so  sensibly  felt  as  it  looks  by 
the  degrees,  because  it  is  more  a  gradual  declination  from  day  to 
day,  and  never  so  great  a  difference  between  the  mean  tempera¬ 
ture  from  day  to  day  as  the  spring  season  presents. 

The  periods  of  the  first  frozen  dew  and  the  first  snow  in  dif¬ 
ferent  years  were  as  follows : 


1851, 

first  frozen  dew.  Sept.  25  ; 

1852, 

<(  <( 

Sept.  13  ; 

1853, 

Oct.  3 ; 

1854, 

U  (( 

Oct.  5 ; 

1855, 

u  u 

Oct.  7 ; 

first  snow,  Oct.  26. 
“  Nov.  13. 

Nov.  9. 
“  Nov.  18. 

“  Oct.  23. 


At  2  P.  M.  the  air  is  generally  15  degrees  Fahr.  warmer  than 
in  the  morning,  and  1 1  degrees  than  in  the  evening. 

In  comparison  with  other  places,  its  mean  temperature  is  gen¬ 
erally  conformed  with  the  mean  temperature  of  the  autumn  of 
La  Koclielle,  in  France.  Especially  the  autumn  of  1851  was 
conformed  with  the  autumn  of  London,  51°  31'  N.  latitude. 


1852  with  the  autumn  of  Paris . 48°  50'  N.  lat. 

1853  “  “  London  again. 

1854  “  “  Sevastopol . 44  36  “ 


1855  “  Sevastopol  again,  but  not  quite  so  warm. 


WINTER  OF  1855,  ^56. 

This  interesting  winter  commenced  with  fair  days,  then  rain 
set  in,  snow  followed,  and  on  the  11th  of  December,  1855,  the 
ground  was  covered  with  snow.  Again  fair  weather  for  a  few 
days,  then  rain;  fair  weather  again  for  some  days;  rain  and 


[28] 


snow  again,  and  the  snow  which  fell  in  the  night  between  the 
24th  and  25th,  covered  the  earth,  and  is  still  visible  in  March, 
1856.  The  first  severe  frost  took  place  December  26th,  eight 
degrees  below  zero.  The  minimum  of  the  month  was  — 9.40°, 
the  maximum  53.37°,  and  the  mean  temperature  of  the  month, 
29.30*°  Fahr.  For  one  day  the  mean  temperature  was  below 
zero. 

The  whole  month  of  January,  1856,  was  distinguished  by  fair 
days  and  about  equally  cold  weather.  The  highest  temperature 
of  the  month  was  only  41.22  degrees,  and  the  lowest  one  26.05 
degrees  Fahr.,  below  zero.  The  mean  temperature  of  the  month 
was  15.35  deg.  Fahr. ;  for  four  days  the  mean  temperature  was 
below  zero,  and  only  on  one  day  the  mean  temperature  reached 
29.75  deg.  Fahr. 

The  month  of  February  shows  more  unpleasant  days,  and  was 
very  cold,  especially  the  first  nine  days.  In  the  morning  of  the 
4th  of  February  the  lowest  temperature  took  place,  being  — 31.45 
deg.,  and  the  highest  one  on  the  26th  of  the  month,  amounting 
to  52.25  deg.  Falir.  The  whole  month  was  also  not  very  change¬ 
able  in  its  temperature ;  for  four  days  the  mean  temperature  was 
below  zero,  and  only  on  one  day  the  mean  temperature  reached 
39.65  deg.  Fahr. 

The  mean  stand  of  the  barometer  was,  for  the  whole  season, 
nearly  the  same  as  generally ;  also  its  range. 

The  mean  temperature  of  the  whole  winter  season  was  21.87 
degrees  Fahr.,  8.70  degrees  colder  than  generally,  or  six  degrees 
colder  than  the  winter  in  Warsaw,  Poland,  or  about  nine  degrees 
colder  than  the  winter  in  Berlin,  Prussia,  and  only  five  degrees 
warmer  than  the  winter  in  Petersburg,  capital  of  Eussia. 

There  fell  much  more  snow  than  generally,  hut  the  amount  of 
melted  snow  and  rain  together  was  much  less  than  generally ; 
the  perpendicular  depth  of  both  was  about  three  inches  less, 
reaching  only  6.274  English  inches. 

The  force  of  vapor  was  0.1066  inches  less,  hut  the  relative 
humidity  amounted  to  four  per  cent,  more  than  usual. 

It  is  remarkable  that  during  the  whole  season  easterly  winds 
prevailed  in  place  of  westerly  winds.  The  wind  from  north  and 


[29] 


soutli  Wowed  in  the  proportion  of  1  to  2,  as  generally  is  the  case 
in  this  season,  hut  the  wind  from  east  and  west  bore  the  propor¬ 
tion  of  1  to  0.99,  therefore  the  westerly  wind  blew  six  times  less 
than  usual. 

The  9th  of  January  was  the  coldest  day,  its  mean  temperature 
was  — 14.12  degrees  Fahr.,  or  — 20.50  degrees  Keaumur,  and 
this  day  was  0.45  degrees  Fahr.  colder  than  the  19th  of  Janu¬ 
ary,  1852.  The  warmest  day  of  the  season  w^as  December  14th, 
its  mean  temperature  reaching  only  49.10  degrees  Fahr.,  or 
7.63  degrees  Reaumur. 

The  minimum  of  the  whole  season  was,  on  the  4th  of  Febru¬ 
ary,  corresponding  with  the  minimum  of  the  20th  of  January, 
1852,  to  — 31.45  deg.  Fahr.,  or  — 28.2  deg.  Reaumur;  and  the 
maximum  amounted,  on  December  14th,  only  to  53.37  deg. 
Fahr.,  or  9.5  deg.  Reaumur. 

In  fact,  no  fruit  could  ripen,  no  leaf  could  grow. 

March  3,  1856. 


. 


i 


i 


i 


^.145 

46.53 

58.06 

48.18 

86 

62 

85 

1.393 

584.90 

20 

23.97 

33.35 

27.05 

89 

71 

85 

1.190 

1078.95 

4 

45.42 

59.45 

47.07 

76 

46 

75 

0.933 

2325.60 

0 

67.77 

78.42 

67.55 

87 

65 

89 

1.03 

1648.05 

1 

48.95 

61.02 

51.05 

91 

67 

89 

[.BEST  DAY. 


1 

Range. 

j 

..1.714 

. . . 

95.39 

’  •  • 

42.4 

f. 

Date. 

T  L  E  V 


METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS, 

MADE  AT  GERMANTOWN,  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY,  OHIO. 


F  O  S,  TUB  B  T  E  O  B,  O  L  O  O-  I  C  A.  L  'ST  E  A  B  18S4-’SS,  B  ^ST  X,.  a  B  O  IST  E  'W  E  <3- . 


Corrected  and  reduced  to  the  Freezing 
Point,  or  32  deg.  Fahrenheit, 
English  fnekts. 

Open  A 

ir  Tliermometer,  Fahrenheit. 

Clear¬ 
ness  of 

Sky. 

Month- 

M^an 

Wind,  Directions,  Monthly  means. 

Quantity  of  Rain  and 
Melted  Snow. 

Paris  Cubic  Inch. 

Perpendicular  depth 
of  Rain^and  Melted 

Rein. 

live 

iym’s 
Pr  cl. 

Force  of  Vapor. 

Monthly  Means. 

1 

B 

Number  of  Days,  with 

Mean  Temperature. 

Relative  Hu¬ 
midity. 

Per  cent. 

Monthly 

Means. 

Maximum 

Minimum 

lions. 

Monthly 

Means. 

Maximum 

Minimum 

lions. 

Rain. 

Jlelied 

Paris 

Inches. 

English 

Inches. 

Paris 

Lines. 

English 

Inches. 

Heat 

Light- 

Dew. 

^W.“ 

Dry 

Mist. 

Fog& 

Mist. 

Rain. 

Snow. 

7  A.  H.  2  P.  M. 

9  P.  M. 

1  2  P.  M. 

J 

18,54. 

1 

December, 

29.li40 

20.568 

28.733 

0.835 

31.55 

55.17 

5.22 

49.95 

6.33 

E:  W=1 

:  6.167.  N:  S=1 

:  1.070 

179.30 

12.90 

1.245 

1.327 

82 

1.717 

0.151 

0 

0 

0 

10 

4 

4 

7 

5 

27.95  1  36.72 

29.97 

87 

69 

90 

1  0J«>. 

January,  . 

20.222 

20.968 

28.254 

1.714 

29.97 

61.47 

0.50 

60.97 

7.36 

E:  W=1 

3.83.  N:  S=1 

:  2.190 

281.20 

286.95 

3.945 

4.205 

81 

1.631 

0.142 

0 

0 

0 

4 

0 

4 

6 

7 

1 

26.15  '  35.37 

29., 30 

90 

72 

82 

February,  . 

20.240 

20.710 

28.707 

1.003 

22.55 

46.17 

-1.07 

48.14 

7.00 

E:  W=1 

3.21.  N;  S=1 

;  0.923 

124.40 

68.90 

1.343 

1.432 

82 

1.1.52 

0.107 

0 

0 

0 

3 

1 

4 

8 

17.82  i  27.95 

21.87 

91 

71 

March,  .  . 

20.764 

28.493 

1.271 

34.02 

56.30 

5.00 

51.30 

6.05 

E:  W=1 

5..50.  N:  S=l' 

1.29 

42.5.40 

56.30 

3.345 

3.566 

71 

1.693 

0.151 

2 

0 

5 

6 

2 

8 

4 

29.52  '  40.10 

32.67 

82 

54 

76 

April,  .  .  . 

20.203 

20.675 

20.000 

0.675 

56.07 

90.95 

19.40 

71.55 

4.97 

E:  W=1 

4.08.  N;  S=1 

:  1.55 

309.65 

0.00 

2.150 

2.292 

62 

3.163 

0.284 

2 

1 

7 

4 

11 

2 

0 

49.32  65.97 

51.12 

72 

40 

73 

May,  .  .  . 

29.302 

20.479 

28.795 

0.684 

62.37 

90.27 

30.20 

60.07 

5.42 

E:  W=1 

0.886.  N:  S=1 

:  0.726 

343.90 

0.00 

2.388 

2.546 

66 

4.157 

0.373 

6 

2 

14 

3 

0 

9 

0 

57.42  '  72.27 

57.42 

74 

45 

77 

June,  .  .  . 

20.124 

20.301 

28.751 

0.640 

67.10 

90.05 

40.77 

50.18 

6.27 

E:  W=1 

2.533.  N:  S=1 

:  0.700 

938.65 

0.00 

6.518 

6.947 

79 

6.018 

0.533 

11 

6 

8 

0 

0 

5 

20 

0 

64.17  74.30 

63.05 

85 

63 

87 

July,  .  .  . 

29.213 

20.470 

29.009 

0.470 

75.20 

93.42 

53.37 

40.05 

5.33 

E:  W=1 

42.00.  N;  S=1 

:  1.353 

703.45 

0.00 

4.885 

5.206 

79 

7.695 

0.693 

13 

7 

14 

0 

0 

6 

18 

0 

72.05  1  82.17 

71.37 

87 

63 

87 

August,  .  . 

29.2.57 

20.550 

20.017 

0.533 

71.15 

89.37 

45.05 

44.32 

5.13 

E:  W=1 

5.727.  N:  S=1 

:  0.845 

683.50 

0.00 

4.746 

5.058 

84 

7.273 

0.657 

6 

2 

17 

0 

0 

9 

12 

0 

67.10  1  78.80 

68.22 

89 

94 

September, 

20.27,5 

20.426 

28.991 

0.435 

68.22 

85.55 

41.45 

44.10 

6.44 

E;  W=1 

2.037.  N:  S=1 

;  1.297 

629.55 

0.00 

4.372 

4.661 

87 

6.912 

0.616 

8 

3 

11 

0 

1 

9 

18 

0 

65.52  1  74.75 

65,30 

93 

74 

93 

October,  .  . 

29.213 

20.435 

28.011 

0.524 

48.20 

72.05 

25.25 

47.70 

4.70 

E;  W=1 

15.200.  N;  S=1 

;  0.928 

170.10 

4.50 

L213 

1.293 

79 

3.014 

0 

0 

4 

10 

4 

7 

8 

1 

41.22  j  58.32 

45.27 

91 

57 

88 

November, 

20.266 

29.666 

28.787 

0.879 

44.37 

72.50 

19.40 

53.10 

6.60 

E;  W=1 

3.56.  N:  S=1 

;  0.855 

848.40 

0.00 

5.8916 

6.281 

81 

2.822 

o!249 

0 

0 

0 

7 

1 

7 

13 

0 

40.10  50.00 

42.57 

89 

69 

85 

Sums,  .  .  . 

5637.50 

429.55 

42.042 

44.817 

48 

22 

75 

46 

33 

56 

128 

25 

Year,  .  . 

29.2350 

50.808 

5.97 

E:  W=l: 

;  7.895.  N:  S=1 

:  1.145 

78 

3.937 

0.346 

46.53  58.06 

48.18 

86 

62 

85 

Skasons. 

1 

Winter,  .  . 

29.234 

20.068 

28.254 

1.7U‘ 

28.02 

61.47 

-1.97 

63.44 

6.90 

E : W= 1 : 

:  4.403.  N;  S=1 

:  1.393 

584.90 

368.75 

6.533 

6.964 

82 

1.500 

0.1332 

0 

0 

0 

17 

5 

9 

17 

20 

23.97  ^  33.35 

27.05 

89 

71 

85 

Spring,  .  . 

20.260 

20.764 

28.403 

1.271 

50.82 

00.95 

5.00 

85.95 

5.48 

E;  W  =  l; 

;  3.470.  N:S=1 

:  1.190 

1078.95 

56.30 

8.404 

66 

3.004 

0.2664 

10 

4 

21 

12 

22 

4 

22 

4 

4.5.42  1  59.45 

47.07 

76 

46 

75 

Summer,  . 

20.198 

20.550 

28.751 

0.790 

71.15 

03.42 

40.77 

52.65 

5.58 

E:  W=1 

:  16.753.  N:  S=1 

:  0.933 

2325.60 

0.00 

16.149 

17.211 

81 

6.995 

0.5951 

30 

15 

39 

0 

0 

20 

50 

0 

67.77  '78.42 

67.55 

87 

65 

89 

Autumn,  . 

29.251 

29.666 

28.787 

0.879 

53.60 

85.55 

19.40 

66.15 

5.91 

E:  W=1 

:  6.933.  N:  S  =  1 

:  1.03 

1648.05 

4.50 

11.477 

12.235 

82 

4.249 

0.3730 

'  8 

3 

15 

17 

6 

23 

39 

1 

48.95  i  61.02 

61.05 

91 

67 

89 

YEARLY  EXTREMES.  MEAN  TEMPERATURE  OF  THE  WARMEST  AND  COLDEST  DAY. 


Maximum. 

Date. 

Minimum. 

Date. 

Range. 

Fahrenheit. 

Reaumur. 

Date. 

Barometer — English  Inches . 

- 29.968 _ 

RthT  IS-'- 

o 

Thermometer — -Farenheit . 

T?  1.  ^ 

95  39^ 

n  j 

e  OA 

.  5  . 

Thermometer — Reaumur . 

- 27  3  _ 

15 

42!4 

Loldest  day . . 

O.JU 

Range . 

. 78.75  . 

. 35.0  . 

273.26 

i 

9.462  1 

29.27 

87 

68 

83 

8.876  1 

‘  48.55 

80 

51 

75 

36.09 

10.091  ' 

10.757  1 

I 

'  *67.89  1 

86 

^  1 
o5 

85 

!  0.00 

9.408 

10.02!)  ; 

,49.97 

90 

61  1 

86 

1  47.82 

8.096 

8.630  ! 

MEAN 

Date. 

rlov  . . 

•19th  January,  1852. 

•  30th  July,  1854. 

u  UclY  •  •  •  •  •  •  ' 

Jv  O  VTY\  rifiv*  ••••••  . . 

IT  dXlliL/OU  viClY  •••••••  ••••  •• 

Jlanffe  •  •  •  •  . . 

^  o 

'L'  li  Ji:  \’  j . 


CIJMATE  (IE  MdNTUOMEIIY  EOliNTY.  (I  II I  (I. 

THE  MEAN  OF  FIVE  YEARS’  OBSERVATIONS,  MADE  AT  GERMANTOWN,  FROM  DECEMBER,  1850,  TO  DECEMBER,  1855.  BY  L.  GRONEWEG. 

I.ATITUDE,  .39“  30'  N.  LONGITUDE,  8d  10'  W.  HIGHT  OF  STATION  ABOVE  THE  SEA,  7-20  FEET. 


Corrected 

I’oin 

Uaiiomltek. 

and  reduced  to  the  Freezing 
or  32  deg.  Fuhienheii, 
ICu'jlieh  Inchr.i. 

Open  Air  Thcniioinetcr.  Fulirenheit. 

Cleiir- 
ness  of 

bVy. 

Mean 
of  the 

Wind,  lYirectiuus,  in 

can  of  the  Mouth. 

Quantity  fff  Rain  and 
Melted  Snow. 

Paris  Cubic  Inch. 
Moan  of  the  Month. 

PerpendicuUar  depth  ol 
Rain  and  Melted  Snow 
Mean  of  the  Muntli. 

iu- 

of  the 
M'th. 
Pr  ct. 

1  Force  of  Vapor. 
^Mean  of  the  Month 

No.  thunder  storms. 
Mean  of  the  Month. 

- - ! 

Number  of  Days,  (Mean  of  the  Mouth),  with 

Mean  Tcinperaturo. 

1  ReTulivo  llu« 

1  iiiidity. 

j  Per  cent. 

the  .Mtintli. 

Maxiinuiu. 

Minimuiii 

liaage. 

Mean  of 
the  Month 

Maximum. 

Minimum 

Itango. 

Rain. 

Melted 

iSS. 

English 

Inches. 

Paris 

English 

1  Inches. 

Heat  ' 

Light  Dew. 

Dry 

Fog  & 
Mist. 

1 

w. 

7  .t.  M. 

3  f.  JI. 

'  £ 

DofCinbpr, 

211.239 

29.011 

28.005 

1.090 

30.74 

58.37 

-0.72 

!  59.09 

G.ce 

E:  W=1 

4.38. 

N;  S=1 

:  2.2i) 

371.25 

00.28 

2.997 

3.195 

81 

1.085 

0.1510 

1 

i  0 

0 

5- 

3 

5 

8 

4 

20.91 

30. -27 

29.07 

89 

70 

80 

.luminry,  . 

29.2.39 

29.900 

28.438 

1.448 

28.,S0 

59.27 

-,S.81 

i  08.08 

0.54 

E;  W=1 

13.80. 

N:  S=1 

:  2.13 

203.74 

127.00 

2.301 

2.453 

79 

1.510 

0.1332 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

6 

0 

0 

24.00 

34.70 

27..50 

88 

08 

82 

Fobniiiry,  . 

29.2:14 

29.725 

28.091 

1.038 

32.17 

55.02 

1.54 

i  54.08 

0.82 

E:  1V=1 

3.08. 

N;  S=1 

:  1.74 

424.13 

85.32 

3.578 

3.814 

78 

1.075 

0.1510 

1 

0 

0 

5 

2 

5 

7 

5 

27.40 

37.98 

31.23 

85 

07 

;  81 

Marc'll,  ,  . 

29.191 

29.072 

28.010 

1.030 

40.19 

70.20 

11,05 

59.15 

5.97 

E:  W=1 

4.17. 

N;  S=1 

:  1..30 

418.93 

20.74 

3.082 

3.285 

71 

2.091 

0.180-5 

•> 

1 

1 

0 

7 

'  4' 

'  9 

3 

34.01 

47.43 

38.84 

82 

55 

1  I'*! 

Aiiril,  .  .  . 

29.1,38 

29..397 

28.090 

0.901 

■50.90 

82.58 

22.01 

00.57 

5.84 

E:  1V=1 

2.02. 

N:  S=1 

:  1.40 

4a5..34 

9.35 

3.224 

3.437 

08 

2.815 

0.2487 

5 

•> 

4 

5 

7 

4 

11 

1 

44.00 

59..58 

48.17 

79 

49 

74 

Slay,  .  .  . 

29.21.5  ■ 

29.485 

28.808 

0.077 

01.88 

87.21 

28.55 

58.00 

5.37 

E:  W=1 

1.90. 

N;  S=1 

:  3.01 

545.14 

0,00 

3.785 

4,035 

09 

4.297 

0.3819 

7 

0 

1 

3 

3 

4  ! 

12 

0 

55.40 

71.33 

58.04 

80 

49 

70 

.luiu’,  .  .  . 

29.1-81 

29.40:1 

28.827 

0.030 

09.44 

91.89 

41.75 

50.14 

5.09 

E:  W=1 

2.9,3. 

N:  S=1 

;  4.05 

421.48 

0.00 

2.920 

3.119 

70 

0.110 

0.5418 

10 

5 

15 

0 

1 

4  ! 

12 

0 

04,31 

78.53 

1  05.70 

85 

'50 

85 

, I  Illy,  .  .  . 

29.213 

29.493 

2,8.991 

0.442 

74.07 

94.10 

48.33 

4,3.77 

4.39 

E:  W=1 

9.99. 

N;  S=1 

;  1.08 

527.12 

0.00 

3.005 

3.907 

74 

0.905 

0.6128 

10 

7 

20 

0 

1 

11 

0 

08.07 

83.52 

'09,93 

85 

53 

84 

August,  .  . 

29.222 

29..1S2 

29.001 

0.481 

71.42 

90.32 

41.77 

48.55 

4.47 

E:  AV=1 

2.9.3. 

N;  S=1 

;  1.59 

405.77 

0.00 

2.817 

3.003 

78 

0.020 

0.5803 

0 

4 

19 

0 

3 

10  : 

10 

0 

05.05 

81.32 

‘  08.04 

89 

57 

87 

September, 

29.273 

29.5.32 

28.932 

0.020 

05.91 

90.72 

30.00 

54.72 

4.90 

E:  W  =  1 

1.09. 

N;  S=1 

:  1.95 

329.75 

0.00 

2.289 

2.440 

80 

5.745 

0.5062 

5 

2 

12 

0 

2 

1'  1 

10 

0 

59.0:1 

75.78 

02.51 

91 

59 

87 

October,  .  . 

29.252 

29.,347 

28.842 

0.705 

51.30 

70.04 

24.89 

51.75 

4.85 

E:  W=1 

4.80. 

N:  S=1 

;  2.01 

305.19 

2.50 

2.136 

2.277 

78 

3.342 

0.2931 

1 

0 

7 

9 

5 

10 

8 

0 

43.05 

01.74 

48.47 

91 

57 

87 

November, 

29.250 

29.G98 

28.707 

0.931 

40.52 

71.,36 

18.80 

5-2.09 

0.90  ( 

E:  W=1 

3.30. 

N;  S=1 

:  1.30 

485.52 

4.5.32  1 

3.071 

3.913 

80 

2.361 

0.2131 

0 

0 

0 

4 

c 

10 

3 

30.05 

40.35 

38.93 

87 

07  1 

84 

Mean  of  the 

1 

Year,  .  . 

:  29.2207 

29.900 

28.458 

1.448 

51.442 

94.10 

-8.81 

102.91 

5.057 

E;  41’=!  : 

:  4.090.  N:  S=1 

:  2.000 

4957.31 

357.17 

30.944 

38.878 

70 

3.763 

0.3375  ! 

48 

25 

91 

48 

38 

72 

114 

27 

4.5.91 

59.54 

48.92 

80 

59 

82 

Mean  of  the 

i 

Winter,  .  . 

29.251 

29.900 

28.458 

1.448 

1  30.57 

59.27 

—8.81 

08.08 

0.07 

E :  W=  1 

7.29. 

N;  S=1 

:  2.00 

999.12 

273.20 

8.876 

9.462 

79 

1.023 

0-1421 

1 

(j 

0 

18 

5 

10 

21 

15 

20.32 

30.32 

29.27 

87 

08 

83 

Spring,  .  , 

29.188 

2.9.072 

28.010 

1.050 

1  51.22 

87.21 

11.05 

70.10 

5.73 

E:  W=1 

2.91. 

N:  S=1 

:  1.98 

1419.41 

30.09 

10.0:)  1 

10.757 

09 

3.068 

0.2753 

15 

0 

7 

14 

14 

12  * 

32 

4 

44.87 

59.45 

48.55 

80 

51 

75 

Sii miller,  > 

1  29.201! 

29.482 

28.827 

0.053 

71.04 

94.10 

41.75 

32.35 

s  4.05 

E;  W=1 

3.28. 

N:  S=1 

:  2.43 

13.54.37 

0.00 

9.408 

10.029 

70 

0..545 

0.5773 

20 

15 

54 

f) 

3 

18 

33 

0 

00.01 

81.12 

’07.89 

80 

55 

85 

Autamii,  . 

29.259 

1 

29.098 

2S.707 

0.931 

5'2.58 

90.72 

18.80 

71.80 

,3.5< 

E:  W  =  1 

3.28. 

N;  S=1 

:  1.77 

1120.40 

47.82 

8.096 

8.630 

(79 

3.810 

0.3375 

0 

3 

19 

10 

9 

'  18  i 

1 

28 

3 

40.44 

01.29 

49.97 

90 

01 

1 

80 

EXTREMESWHICHOCCUR.  It  MEAN  TEMPERATURE  OF  THE  COLDEST  AND  WARMEST  DAY. 


Maximum. 

Date. 

Minimum.  1 

Date. 

llangc!. 

Fahrenheit. 

Reaumur. 

Date. 

1)  r  r  1  I  1 

>n  n-" 

31st  JanuaiN .  1851 

.•••28.254-'.'' 

'1 

,o 

Tiu'nuomotiT  l''aronhoit 

•  ■  •  21st  January,  18oo  •  • 

Coldest  day . 

Thermometer — llenumur . 

...ao.r .... 

•  •  •  •  4th  oepteinuer,  18-i4  •  •  • ' 

:~28:2’  :::;j 

•  •  •  20th  January,  1852  •  • 

1 .  ■■  ■ . 

58.3 

[  Bange . 

g-  r- 

. 0<,.29  . 

. 44,1  . 

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T  ^  B  L  E  VII 


TABLE  FOR,  COMPARISON. 

H-cravrEOLiDT’s  “-a.sie  ceicxe^e.” 


PLACE. 

Latitude. 

LoDgitude  of 

Mean  Temperature  of  the 

.  Year. 

Winter. 

Spring. 

Summer. 

Autumn. 

Coldest 

Month. 

Canary  Islands,  Las  Talmas . 

28.00  N. 

17.51  W. 

71.24 

!  64.40 

66.92 

74.84 

79.16 

64.04 

Gihraltar . 

36.07  N. 

7.41  AV. 

64.22 

56.84 

63.14 

72.86 

64.04 

56.66 

Algiers . 

36.47  N. 

0.43  AV. 

64.04 

54.32 

62.96 

74.48 

70.52 

.58.10 

Lisbon . 

38.42  N. 

11.29  AV. 

61.52 

52.34 

59.90 

71.06 

62.60 

52.16 

Naples . 

40.51  N. 

11.55  E. 

61.52 

49.64 

59.36 

74.48 

62.24 

48.56 

Constantinople . 

41.00  N. 

26.39  E. 

56.66 

40.64 

51.80 

73.40 

60.44 

Florence . 

43.47  N. 

8.55  E. 

59.54 

44.24 

58.46 

75.20 

60.26 

41..54 

Sevastopol . 

44.36  N. 

31.12  E. 

52.70 

35.24 

50.36 

71.06 

54.68 

33.08 

Venice . 

45.26  N. 

10.0  E. 

56.66 

37.94 

54.68 

73.04 

55.94 

35.24 

Tad  11  a . 

45.24  N. 

9.32  E. 

54.50 

37.04 

53.78 

71.42 

55.40 

35.24 

La  Koclielle . 

46.09  N. 

3.28  AA^. 

52.88 

39.56 

51.08 

66.92 

52.70 

37.22 

Geneva . 

46.12  N. 

3.49  E. 

49.46 

34.16 

49.10 

64.22 

50.36 

31.28 

48.50  N. 

0.0 

51.44 

37.94 

50.54 

64.58 

.52.16 

35.24 

Vienna . 

48.13  N. 

14.3  E, 

50.18 

32.36 

50.90 

68.54 

50.90 

29.12 

Triers . 

48.50  N. 

4.18  E. 

50.00 

35.42 

50.00 

64.04 

50.18 

32.00 

Augsburgli . 

48.22  N. 

8.34  E. 

46.22 

30.74 

46.94 

61.88 

46.76 

2.5.16 

Strasburg . 

48.35  N. 

5.25  E. 

49.64 

33.98 

50.00 

64.58 

50.00 

31.28 

AVurtzburg . 

49.48  N. 

7.36  E. 

.50.18 

34.88 

50.36 

65.66 

49.46 

30.38 

Tlymonth . 

50.22  N. 

6.28  AV. 

51.98 

44.42 

50.18 

60.80 

53.06 

42.62 

London  . 

51.31  N. 

2.26  AV. 

50.72 

39.56 

49.10 

62.78 

51.26 

37.40 

Halle . 

51.31  N. 

9.37  E. 

47.84 

32.00 

47.48 

63.50 

48.38 

27.86 

Gottingen . 

51.32  N. 

7.36  E. 

48.38 

33.08 

63.68 

18.42  E. 

45.50 

27.50 

44.60 

63.50 

46.40 

24.80 

11.3  E. 

47.48 

30.56 

46.40 

63.14 

47.84 

27.68 

Tilsit . 

55.04  N. 

19!33  e! 

44!o6 

25^52 

42!62 

62!o0 

45.14 

22.28 

U|)sal . 

59.52  N. 

15.18  E. 

41.36 

25.34 

38.12 

59.19 

43.16 

23.18 

Moscow . 

55.45  N. 

35.18  E. 

38.48 

1  13.46 

43.34 

62.24 

34.88 

12.92 

Tetersburgb . 

59.56  N. 

27.59  E. 

38.30 

i  16.88 

35.06 

60.26 

40.46 

13.46 

Germantown,  Ohio . 

39.30  N. 

86.36  AV. 

51.44 

;  30.57 

51.22 

71.64 

52.58 

28.76 

January,  1856  . 

15.35 

Albany,  N.  Y. . 

42.39  N, 

76.05  AV. 

48.56 

I  26.60 

47.66 

69.62 

49.46 

24.98 

Boston,  Massachusetts . 

42.21  N. 

73.24  AV. 

48.74 

:  29.12 

45.86 

68.99 

50.72 

26.06 

Baltimore,  Maryland . 

78.58  AV. 

52.88 

32.72 

50.72 

73.58 

55.22 

30.92 

Athens,  Menard  county,  Illinois  ■  ■  • 

53.07 

31.07 

53.78 

73.33 

54.41 

25.55 

San  Francisco,  California . 

56.57 

‘  49.67 

55.84 

59.64 

59.92 

49.31 

Warmest 

Month. 


84.56 

74.30 

76.46 

72.14 

76.10 

77.36 
72.32 
75.02 
73.22 

68.36 
65.48 
66.02 
0!).26 
65.66 
63.50 
65.84 
67.28 
61.88 
64.04 
66.74 

64.76 

64.40 

63.50 

61.34 

63.68 

62.42 

74.12 


71.96 

71.24 

75.20 
77.91 

62.21 


